Monday, November 26, 2018

What is A Buddha


 

            First  I would like to talk about enlightenment for a moment.  It is an interesting word that has like so many words and phrases overtime shifted in its meaning and certainly in its application. Both Buddhism and Christianity throw this word around constantly.  It seems like starting at some point in history everybody on a spiritual path decided that their goal was enlightenment. I would like to take a short trip back to this words introduction to the English language. This word is used today usually in a figurative sense and speaks of spiritual enlightenment. It's history indicates that around 1865 it was in fact a translation of the German word "Aufklarung"  which was a name for the spirit of independent thought and the rationalistic system developed by philosophers to indicate that the individual may hope for improvement through his own efforts....These efforts were through education, participation in politics, activities and on behalf of reform, but not through prayer and not through a higher power.  It was in direct opposition to the concept of original sin that had become part of the basic  theology of the Catholic Church and most Protestant Christianity. The context of the introduction of this word was what became called the Age of Enlightenment.  It is usually described as an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century.  Most historians would put the Age of Enlightenment as somewhere between 1715 and 1789.

            If the word was used in its original sense that is to say that the individual may hope for improvement through his own efforts then I would say that it is not a bad description of the intent of the teachings of the Buddha. However it has been my experience that most people today use it in a completely different sense.  In a spiritual sense of high elevation and purity and it contains subtleties that I don't have time to go over in this essay. In that sense I think it is a misapplication to the Buddha and what we call Buddhism.

            It is not unusual of course for religions to steal from each other ideas and concepts and to see those concepts shift in both context and meaning as they bounce back and forth in translation by people whose educational and cultural experiences are based in those other religions when trying to propound a religion to which they have been introduced.

            A wonderful example of this is the book "The light of Asia" which was published around 1925 or thereabouts by the Englishman Sir Edwin Arnold, who represented the book as a translation of an Indian text which was supposed to be the life and teachings of Gautama. That is to say the Buddha.  In the preface of the book the English author admits that he is quoting from an imaginary Buddhist teacher. The book itself literally overflows with Christian concepts and terminology.  He refers to Saints and he refers to Buddha as the savior of humanity and the Christian terminology just never ends. While this is not a book that's read a lot today and won't be found on most Buddhist library shelves it is the sort of English writing that later Buddhists who were learning English absorbed when they themselves were translating the sutras and the teachings of Buddha. Part of which might explain why Tibetan Buddhist teachers have a tendency when they learnEnglish to  translate words like awakening into the term enlightenment.

            Even today in the year 2018 if you go on your search engine on your phone or computer it's going to tell you that the word Buddha means the enlightened one.  Which is a little hard for me to swallow since the word enlightened didn't even come into existence until around 1865 CE and Buddha was born around 623 BC in Lumbini Nepal . He is generally believed  to have taught between 546 and 324 BC.  The root of course of the word Buddha is Bodhi . At least most dictionaries will give the meaning of the word Bodhi as either "enlightenment" or   "awakening".  Since the word enlightenment wouldn't even exist in any form for almost 2189 years after Buddha died I'm going with "awakening".

            Given the above argument I'm going to define a Buddha as an "awakened one". I truly believe that that's what he referred to himself as, an nothing more.  The Bodhi tree was the tree of awakening. I will leave it to you to look at the story of how Buddha wandered around and finally ended up under that tree.  That is certainly a tale that it's easy to come by and one you should look up on your own.

            Now the simplest and most direct definition of the word awake is to not be asleep. Waking up to something that we all do virtually every day.  I will suggest at this time that you to think about what actually goes on when you wake up.  Now I am speaking about what goes on in your head not necessarily what goes on in your house. I want you to please think about the difference between being awake and asleep. I have always found it amazing that so many creatures such as ourselves have to sleep in order to be able to function while we are awake.  I of course have no idea what kind of dreams you have or what you're dreaming experiences are when you sleep.  At one point in my practicing of Buddhism I even learned from a teacher to do what is called Lucid dreaming. But that's not really the point of this essay. Only you know the world you left when you awoke this morning and the world that each of us wakes up to is different.

            There are many fables and myths that purport to describe what Buddha did and said when he arose awakened under that fig tree. But the truth is there probably wasn't anybody there that noticed, saw or heard those things. So I'm going to ask myself what was the first thing that we can be certain of that Buddha did once he was awake. In other words what was, at least in his mind,  the most urgent thing that he wanted to communicate from this awakening.

            Well almost every school of Buddhism admits that probably the first thing he did was go find a group of the other men that he'd been practicing asceticism with and take them up on a place I believe call vulture peak. There he gave a lecture to them and I suppose anyone else who was willing to listen that is called by some schools of Buddhism the first great turning of the wheel. So I don't think it's unfair to say that of all the things that Buddha awoke too, the four noble truths was probably the most pressing thing on his mind when he awoke.

In the original that went something like this:  

            "We crave and Cling to impermanent states and things which are dukkha "incapable of satisfying" and painful. This craving keeps us caught in samsara the endless cycle of repeated bhava ("becoming") and juati (literally: "birth"), rebirth, and the continued dukkha that comes with it. There is, however, a way to end this cycle , namely by attaining nirvana, cessation of craving, where after rebirth and associated dukkha will no longer arise again. This can be accomplished by following the eight fold path  restraining oneself, cultivating discipline and wholesome states, and practicing mindfulness and dhyana. "

            This of course has been simplified and rarefied for the Western mind especially by  Zen teachers and other teachers in the west wishing not impose upon your preconceptions of the world by suggesting that Buddha believed in karma and rebirth. (maybe even suggesting he was a Hindu , God forebid) So I will restate the four noble truths in the below abbreviated form that has been found palatable to most of the Western audience that the modern Zen teacher caters to.

1. The truth of suffering.

2. The truth of the origin of suffering

3   The truth of the cessation of suffering

4.  The truth of the past to the cessation of suffering. (The Eight Fold Path)

 

The Eight Fold Path

 1. Right you are right understanding

2. Right Intent

3. Right Speech

4. Right Action

5. Right Livelihood

6. Right Effort

7. Right Mindfulness

8. Right Concentration

             I suppose at this point it would be rude of me to point out that a lot of the things that you have been taught in your life are Buddhism and Zen are not mentioned in this first urgent message that the Buddha felt he really needed to communicate once he awoke.

            The list of these things of course which were developed over the next couple thousand years is quite extensive. You know things like emptiness, no self, Buddha nature, and doctrines that were developed over those thousands of years by many brilliant meditators and Buddhist scholars.  I wish to point out that I'm not saying that these teachings are wrong.  What I'm saying is is that when Buddha woke up the four noble truths and eightfold path were the things that he felt really needed to be communicated to the world.
            Over the eons the different schools of Buddhism developed philosophies and practices that they called yogas and skillful means by which members of their culture and their time could accomplish what they believed Buddha wanted for his fellow sentient beings. Means and methods of waking up.

            So now I'm going to leave you with this simple thought. A Buddha is an awakened one. Now my friends go out there and wake up.

            Or as my generation would say it's time to smell the coffee.

           

Sunday, November 18, 2018

What You Gain From Zen


 
           
      In my experience  people who get involved in Buddhism and Zen in the West see themselves as seekers,  they're looking for something that their life doesn't have. Some people call this thing they're seeking enlightenment others simply call it peace of mind and some call it the truth.  I am old and I suppose a little bit jaundiced or jaded but I've always found it amusing when a Zen teacher will face a group of students and tell them clearly that he has nothing to offer them.  The confusion on their faces and the way their  body language literally glows with discomfort when the person they've come to as a seeker tells him that he has nothing for them at this late stage is to me a little amusing. 
         
Of course Zen contains more paradox and confusion than any of the other schools of Buddhism. I sometimes think that Zen teachers are not unlike stage magicians that like to see the look on your face when they make statements that cause your mind to twist into knots.  And like stage magicians it's considered impolite to show how the trick is done. Houdini was at once asked if he ever explained his tricks to anyone and he just laughed and said, " NEVER!"

           
So I suppose that there will be many Zen teachers who are not going to like this post.  But I don't write this to please them I write this to help myself and others.  Zen like most stage magic takes place right in front of you and depends primarily upon misdirection.  There are of course thousands of years of Buddhist teachings that might suggest that each and every one of us is born a Buddha. If anyone asks you , you didn't hear this from me. This idea that you have everything that you are seeking already, and that the reason that Zen has nothing to offer you is that you've already got it.
          
I'm going to suggest that if you're a seeker who has come to Zen looking for something to gain perhaps what you should be looking for is the things that you can lose. While Zen can't give you anything perhaps the practice of Zen can  help you lose a lot of things that are making you miserable. The things I am speaking of are things like anger, fear, anxiety, depression, envy,  a grasping mind and hate, what do you suppose would be left if you lost all those things.  And that is what I would call the short list of things worth losing. 

So the end of this short little essay is simply to say perhaps what you're seeking is something you wish to lose not something you wish to gain.