Tag: Nagarjuna

Ultimate Reality

Posted on by David

I want to make a few comments about something I wrote in the last post:

It seems to me that there is no other religious philosophy other than Buddhism that has such a concept where there is absolutely no separation between the ordinary person and the ultimate reality.  You cannot become God, Jesus, the Prophet – you can be Buddha.  Here, the ultimate reality is everything.

When we talk about an “ultimate reality” in Buddhism, we’re comprehending a different understanding of the term that that of other religions or spiritual philosophies.  An “ultimate reality” is not any one thing.  It is everything.  There is no separation because we are living the ultimate reality right now.  How we perceive it is the question.

You may read that emptiness is the ultimate reality.  That is misleading.  Emptiness is the “ultimate” nature of things, meaning that all things are empty, including emptiness.  But it does not mean that emptiness itself is anything like a force, or substitute for some mystical being.  There is no creator god in Buddhism.  Buddha was not divine, nor was he was prophet.  He was an itinerant philosopher and meditation teacher.  To compare Buddha with the others is a bit misleading as well.

I’m sure most of you caught my drift when you read the post.  Just wanted to make sure…

In Nagarjuna’s Philosophy, K. Venkata Ramanan says that it is through realizing that even the subtlest things are not ultimate in reality that one becomes free of clinging.  The philosophy of sunyata seeks to bring about this realization by laying bare the inconsistencies to which one is misled into thinking things are ultimate.

So, in Buddhism there is no ultimate reality.  At the same time, all of reality is the ultimate reality.

Ramanan quotes Nagarjuna:

The ultimately true nature of the Buddha and the ultimately true nature of all things are in truth but one reality, not two, not divided.  This ultimate reality is unmade, it will never be other than what it always is.

Reality is.  Just is.  Unmade.  Indeterminable.  Non-dual.  The ultimate reality is a whole, the whole of everything.  That is why everything is Buddha and anyone can be Buddha.

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Hiatus and Judging

Posted on by David

It’s been a while.  Since I began this blog in 2010 this is the longest I’ve gone without posting.  I’m on hiatus, and I plan to stay that way.

No particular reason.  Just don’t have much to say.

On the health front, the latest round of tests show that my cancer has not changed.  It seems to be in a holding pattern right now.  Good.  What’s not so good is the lymphedema or swelling in my legs, which, like metastatic cancer, is incurable.  I’ll spare you the details and just say that the fluid has reached both legs and greatly inhibits my mobility.

I did want to comment about something today…

One of the things we see in Trump’s abnormal behavior that doesn’t seem to get talked about a lot is the way he judges people.  I suppose it gets lost in the nastiest of his jibes.  But when he calls someone a “slime ball,” “crooked,” or “lying,” he’s judging a person’s character, their worth.  Judgments of this sort stem from negative emotions and mental tendencies.  It is not the way for a responsible adult to behave, and furthermore, it sets a bad example for adults and ‘younger people.  It is just one of the many ways in which Trump’s behavior is inappropriate for a person occupying the highest office in the land and another reason why he shouldn’t be there.

“Love is the absence of judgment.” – Dalai Lama

He is trying to define others, define who they are, but what folks with judgmental minds don’t seem to understand is that they are really defining who they are, showing us their true character.

Judging others is a cause for suffering.  Not theirs, ours.  The Buddha taught that judging others prevents us from discovering truth because the judgmental mind prevents understanding and the accumlation of wisdom.

When we analyze the situation from the standpoint of Buddha-dharma, we find that it links with Nagarjuna’s concept of the “emptiness of views.”  In the way I am framing this discussion, judgment, the act of judging others, is nothing more than a view, an opinion.

Venkata Ramanan, in Nagarjuna’s Philosophy, writes,

To abandon [views] is to give up the claim of completeness in regard to what is only fragmentary.  [All] views owe [their] being to lack of ‘direct, unimpeded comprehension of the true nature of things…’  This becomes practically the central point in the philosophy of Nagarjuna.’

If we unpack this statement literally, we see that while we may judge someone as a slimeball, but it’s doubful they are a total slimeball.  We’re merely expressing our opinion on a fragment of their overall character.

Ramanan goes on to say,

The rejection of views which is an essential point in the philosophy of the Middle Way means that no specific view, being specific, is limitless, and no view, being a view, is ultimate.  The ultimate view is not any ‘view.’  ‘Silence is the ultimate truth for the wise.

Trump’s judgmental mind and his unfortunate tweets are just examples of the growing negativity in our society and the way our civil discourse has become so uncivil.   We need to turn this around.

We can do our part by recognizing the worthlessness, the emptiness, of judging others, and we  can take our cue from Thich Nhat Hanh:

Do your best to practice compassionate listening.  Do not listen for the sole purpose of judging, criticizing, or analyzing. Listen only to help the other person express himself and find some relief from his suffering.

I think listening is a more valuable use of our time than criticizing and judging.  Don’t you?

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“When the mind is free…”

Posted on by David

I’ve had the opportunity to attend quite a few teachings by the Dalai Lama over the years.  If you have too, then you know they are usually 3 or 4 day affairs, 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon, and the Dalai Lama gives deep teachings.  It is unfortunate that he is more renown as a sort of Buddhist celebrity.  In my opinion, his real contribution to all of us is being the foremost teacher and interpreter of Madhyamaka philosophy in the world today.  I can’t think of any other teacher who comes close.

Here are some notes I took at a 2001 teaching on Shantideva’s “Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life.”  I thought I would share them with you:

If you wish to overcome hatred you must cultivate loving-kindness just as you turn on heat to dispel cold or turn on a light to illuminate darkness.

In itself, the mind is neutral and can take either the form of mental affliction or insight into true reality.

Samsara has a powerful antidote and the power of this antidote can be increased infinitely.

When the mind is free from mental afflictions, the mind can then permeate and perceive both conventional and ultimate truth simultaneously.  

We who recite the Heart Sutra should accept the Buddha as the embodiment of the object of ultimate realization.  Bodhicitta [‘thought of awakening’] is the aspiration to attain Buddhahood for the welfare of all beings. When bodhicitta arises, all the actions of the individual are those of a bodhisattva.

If you have insight into emptiness but no bodhicitta, you will not realize full awakening.  If you have no insight into emptiness but have bodhicitta, you are on the way no matter what.  Bodhicitta is a benefit both temporary and long term.  You should practice bodhicitta as an antidote to pride.  It is also powerful when you are depressed.

Bodhicitta cannot be realized merely by making a wish or offering a prayer, but you can practice to a point where you make a simple thought and this causes a spontaneous arising of bodhicitta within you.

To develop compassion first cultivate a sense of closeness to all sentient beings, then a real empathy with them.  A practice that is very powerful for cultivating compassion is seeing others as your mother, who symbolizes the one who has shown you the greatest kindness.

It is important to have some understanding of what kind of sufferings you wish others to be free from.  The wish to free oneself from suffering is true renunciation.  To wish others to be free is true compassion.

Bodhicitta has two elements: 1) closeness to others and 2) understanding of suffering.

To achieve the kind of liberation we are talking about requires great courage.

Three elements to attain Buddhahood: 1) bodhicitta, the heart of the practice, 2) compassion, and 3) understanding of emptiness (through tranquil abiding and penetrative insight).

The purpose of the Buddha’s teaching is to transform negative aspects of the mind and mind training.

Both the Buddha and Nagarjuna had unobstructed vision.  One should think that in their presence, ‘I have nothing to hide, I have no guilty conscience.’

Great guidance! As you know, a bodhisattva is an individual who begins his or her practice by generating bodhicitta, the aspirational wish to liberate all living beings from their sufferings.   The Tibetan term for bodhisattva is jang chub sem pa, which translates roughly as “mind-hero.”

Bodhisattvas are heroes of the mind.   They have learned to master their minds, rather than letting their minds master them.  Why are they heroes?  They have the “great courage” the Dalai Lama talks about, the bravery, the audacity to aspire for liberation.

It reminds me of the line in the David Bowie song “Heroes”: “We can be heroes, just for one day.”  That is all it takes… small acts of random kindness… beginning with just one day.  Be a hero for just one day and it expands from there like a ripple in a still water when there is a pebble tossed… which reminds me of another song…

 

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Bodhisattvas Never Outside the World of Suffering

Posted on by David

Here is a post from 2012 that has recently gotten a bit of attention.  Perhaps it was re-blogged or posted in a forum – I don’t know but all the sudden I am getting inquires about it.  A few people want to know where I found Thich Nhat Hanh’s version of the vows.  I wish I could remember.  I have no note about it, nor can I find the source among my files and books.  If anyone knows the source of this interpretation, please let me know.

A second inquiry I’v have received is about The Transcendental Bodhicitta Treatise by Nagarjuna.  The title and translation is D.T. Suzuki’s.  The Sanskrit title is Bodhicitta-vivarana, often rendered in English “A Commentary on the Awakening Mind” and “Exposition of Bodhicitta”, a work the Dalai Lama has been taught on many times.  Links to English translations at the bottom.

Many Buddhists are familiar with the Four Great Bodhisattva Vows.  Most of the Mahayana schools in China, Korea, Tibet and Japan, uphold and recite the Vows.  They are thought to have originated with the Chinese master Chih-i during the sixth century.  I don’t know whether this is true or not, but apparently there was some form of Bodhisattva Vows already in place during Chih-i’s time, and it is recorded that a prince of the Ch’en dynasty, Yang Kuang, received from Chih-i the “Bodhisattva Vows” for lay practitioners along with a Buddhist name, Tsung-ch’ih P’u-sa (“Bodhisattva of Absolute Control”) in 591.*

The Four Great Bodhisattva Vows (Shi gu sei gan) are as follows:

Shu jo mu hen sei gan do
Bon no mu jin sei gan dan
Ho mon mu ryo sei gan gaku
Butsu do mu jo sei gan jo

Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to save them all.
Desires are inexhaustible; I vow to end them all.
The Dharma Gates are infinite; I vow to enter them all.
The Buddha Way is unexcelled; I vow to attain it completely.

In some versions, the last vow is given as a pledge to attain “complete, perfect enlightenment (Skt. anuttara samyak sambodhi).  It is said that if a bodhisattva does not accomplish the first vow of saving all sentient beings, he or she can never complete the fourth vow of enlightenment.  But, how is that possible?  How can one save all living beings?  In Taking the Path of Zen, Robert Aitken wrote, “Nobody fulfills these ‘Great Vows for All,’ but we vow to fulfill them as best we can. They are our path.”  In the long run, it doesn’t matter if we are unable to fulfill the Vows, what is important is that we engrave the spirit of the vows upon our hearts and minds.

We should also be aware that from the standpoint of the Mahayana doctrine of emptiness, a bodhisattva does not cling to the idea that there are beings at all, nor that there is anything such as “complete, perfect enlightenment.”  This is the doctrine found in the Mahayana Diamond Sutra.

While there are not quite as many English versions of the Vows as there are sentient beings or grains of sand in the Ganges River, there are quite a few.  Perhaps the most interesting one is by Thich Nhat Hanh:

tnh-bodhisattvaHowever innumerable beings are, I vow to meet them with kindness and interest.

However inexhaustible the states of suffering are, I vow to touch them with patience and love.

However immeasurable the Dharmas are, I vow to explore them deeply.

However incomparable the mystery of interbeing, I vow to surrender to it freely.

The hidden teaching within Mahayana Buddhism that it is more important to practice the Way of the Bodhisattva than it is to become a Buddha.  In actuality, the Way of the Bodhisattva is the Way of the Buddha.  However, people often miss this point and think that enlightenment is the ultimate goal.  There is no goal, there is only the path, and it is a path of compassion, and everything in Buddhism leads up to this one truth.

A work by Nagarjuna, The Transcendental Bodhicitta Treatise, reads:

The essential nature of all Bodhisattvas is a great loving heart, and all living beings constitute the object of their love . . . They are like the beautiful lotus-flower, which rises up from the swamp, its blossoms unsullied by the mud.  Their great hearts of compassion, which constitute the essence of their being, never leave suffering creatures behind in their journey.  Their spiritual knowledge is in the emptiness of all things, but their work of salvation is never outside the world of suffering.”

2016 note:   Some people approach Buddha-dharma in what I would term a casual manner, that is, they practice mindfulness to relieve stress, or use it a therapy, a psychology.  Others may engage in a more formal practice, chasing after the rapture of meditative states called jhanas.  From the Mahayana perspective, the focal point of Buddhism is suffering (harking back to the Four Noble Truths) and the purpose of dharma is to transcend suffering, which is accomplished by concentrating of the suffering of others before thinking of one’s own suffering.

The bodhisattva is like the captain of a ship that ferries beings across the great sea of suffering.  To captain such a ship requires courage, commitment and strong determination.  The four vows are like the charts used to set the course, but without preparation a captain cannot command a ship, let alone follow a course, and this necessary preparation requires the generation of altruistic intention or bodhicitta.  Those who tread the path of the bodhisattva do not seek enlightenment outside of themselves, and they realize there is no nirvana or bliss apart from this mundane world.

– – – – – – – – – –

* Denis C. Twitchett, The Cambridge History of China: Volume 3, Sui and T’ang China, 589-906 AD, Part One, Cambridge University Press, 1979]

Links to translations of Nagarjuna’s treatise:

Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism by D.T. Suzuki (Google books)

Commentary on Awakening Mind (opens PDF)

Translation by Chr. Lindtner

Exposition of Bodhicitta (opens PDF)

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Deplorables and Name Calling

Posted on by David

Some people think Hillary Clinton’s remark about “basket of deplorables” was a strategic mistake.  Others are making the argument that she was setting a trap for Trump, forcing him into the position of having to defend racists like David Dukes.

On CNN, Pence was asked if Dukes, the former KKK leader and a Trump supporter,  was a deplorable. Pence said the Trump campaign was “not in the name calling business.”  That’s a laugh.  Name-calling seems to be an obsession with Trump. His behavior has been, um, deplorable.

Well, this is nothing new.  Name calling has always been a part of politics.  According to Wikipedia, “Name calling is a cognitive bias and a technique to promote propaganda. Propagandists use the name-calling technique to incite fears or arouse positive prejudices . . . “  There is nary a politician alive who has not engaged in it.  From what I’ve read name calling in presidential elections used to be much worse, but I don’t recall that in my lifetime.  I have not seen nothing like the 2016 election.

peanuts-sticksandstonesName calling is actually a form of bullying.  And it’s not just politicians.  People everywhere, young and old, from the schoolyards to the boardrooms engage in name calling, perhaps not always directly or consciously or with malice.  This is an important issue  given that racial slurs have become more prevalent than ever in American society.

In trying to stem the use of racial slurs and name calling, I think we may be going about it the wrong way.  We want to prevent people from name calling, but we need to also toughen our skin so that names won’t hurt or cause outrage.  They’re just words.  We can also try to diminish the power of certain words.

Nagarjuna told us that words are only signs, dependent designations ( prajnaptir-upadaya ), and names nothing more than derived names (upadaya-prajnapti).  They exist as convention designations and have no real substantiality.

As I mentioned once before, legendary outlaw comedian Lenny Bruce used the N-word 22 times in a routine.  At the end of the bit he said, “Well, I was just trying to make a point, and that is that it’s the suppression of the word that gives it the power, the violence, the viciousness.” He went on to say that if you used the word repeatedly until it “didn’t mean anything anymore, then you could never make some six-year-old black kid cry because somebody called him a nigger at school.”

Lenny’s point coincides to some extent with the Buddhist teaching on this subject.  In his essay on Nagarjuna, German existentialist philosopher Karl Jaspers wrote,

The final step is to perceive the untruth of all signs and hence of language.  Once it is understood that a word is a mere sign without any real meaning, the word disappears and that is deliverance.  Consciousness, which created suffering by shaping emptiness into many worlds, is carried back to its source.

The aim of all true thinking is a return from the unfolding of thought to nonthinkng.  What happened through the unfolding of thought can be undone by better thought in the dissolution of thought.”

Clinton is right, of course.  Many of Trumps supporters are worthy of strong condemnation.  But then, they feel the same way about us.  Liberals, left-wingers, extremists, tree huggers destroying America . .  .  It all depends on your view . . . and hopefully you recall from previous posts Nagarjuna’s injunction about the emptiness of views.

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