The end of suffering?

 Often the Buddha is recorded as saying that he taught "this and this alone, suffering and the end of suffering." He was silent on virtually all the metaphysical questions - the so called "silence of the Buddha". We all want answers, but you don't really get them in the Dharma. We have to find our own answers - even sometimes our very own questions. As I see it, most will simply answer the questions set by their own conditioning and indoctrination, and "believe" some answers - and make their peace. Is this the peace that passes understanding that the Bible speaks of?

Way back I asked on Buddhist Forums:- "In what sense does suffering end"? I posted a small excerpt from a lapsed Buddhist (I think of the Tibetan variety) and he had spoken of the death of his mother, of how her death had left him with grief and a huge hole in his life. He said that he didn't want that hole filled with some "pseudo evolved transcendence of personal pain". He didn't even want the hole filled at all. At the time my own mum was sliding down into dementia and his words caught my heart.

Well, from what I remember there were lots of answers. 100 Buddhists, 100 answers. Which has some sort of message - but I'm not sure what.....

Well, that was long ago and I have walked the path for quite some time. More a stumble than a strut - I'm fairly vulnerable. But as I see it, or have come to see it, most "answers" simply postpone the whole question to some other life, betraying this world for some perceived "other" beyond the grave, where rewards and compensations are handed out to the "elect" while the suffering is actually said to continue perpetually for many - if not for most.

How does suffering end?

There is a zen koan:-

A clearly enlightened person falls into the well. How is this so?

Thomas Merton once wrote:-

We stumble and fall constantly, even when we are most enlightened.


As for Dogen:-

One big mistake! There really is wisdom there.

In the end we always come back to where we started, yet always know it for the first time. If it is not the first time then we are caught in the past, in suffering.

So what is the point?

We must find our own point. A zen guy Pai-chang wrote:-

The graduations of the language of the teachings—haughty, relaxed, rising, descending—are not the same. What are called desire and aversion when one is not yet enlightened or liberated are called enlightened wisdom after enlightenment. That is why it is said, “One is not different from who one used to be; only one’s course of action is different from before.”

Only one's course of action is different from before.

I think compassion for others can grow. In this the difference between samsara and nirvana can evaporate. It is the answer of the Buddha when he was asked why he continued to practice and meditate even though enlightened. He answered:-

Out of compassion for the world

"Love has no why" Meister Eckhart. No answers. No why.

"Uji" - Being/Time

 

The Christmas festivities over I find myself back in MacDonald's with a large white coffee. A little taste of paradise believe it or not.

I spoke of turning to Dogen and his writings elsewhere and that remains the plan, but as said we can set the sails but must always wait for heaven's will. Dogen's actual writings are very dense, sometimes impenetrable, at least to me. And judging by the way different commentators see different things, well......what can you say?

What Dogen himself said was "where you do not understand, there is your understanding." And given that he also said that "we are what we understand", you might begin to see the problem! 

Well, before I leap deeply into his Shōbōgenzō, "The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye" , I am reading a novel by Ruth Odeki called "A Tale For the Time Being". The title is a slight play on words of one of Dogen's essays/sermons, called "Uji" which means Being/Time. Time is being and being is time. Which when you throw in the idea that time is only the "visible" part of eternity, then you have much to ponder - if you like that sort of thing.

Some don't. They are what they understand. They are satisfied with that, and perhaps like to call it "all truth", but no matter.

The book by Ruth Odeki is very good. You realise as you read that the deep subtleties of Dogen's view of time is being presented, yet in story form, simply.

Part of the story - it has many sides - is of a young Japanese student who gets called up by the army in WW2. And is trained to become a kamikaze pilot. The first thing he is taught though is how to use his rifle to kill himself. He laughs when he gets his call up papers, simply at the thought of himself as a warrior. He is the peaceful sort.

Finally his mother receives his remains in a box sent by the Government, this after his kamikaze death dive. The box is of course empty (except for a few banal words from the Government)

The emptiness of the box is pregnant with meaning, certainly if you are a Dharma follower. The emptiness holds all that the young man was in and through time. In a very deep way, he still lives. His love, his hopes, his dreams.

His mother, after receiving the box becomes a Buddhist nun. As an 103 year old she guides another young person, a girl, in ways that again explicate some of Dogen's teachings.

The portions of the book written by this young girl are often the highlight. Very funny at times. Very candid. There is no soft sell.

Well, my coffee is getting cold.

The wind comes through the trees

 

Calligraphy by Thomas Merton

A couple of quotes from Thomas Merton:-

The spiritual life is something that people worry about when they are so busy with something else they think they ought to be spiritual. Spiritual life is guilt. Up here in the woods is seen the New Testament: that is to say, the wind comes through the trees and you breathe it.

(from "Day of a Stranger")

And while I am here, another.............

Our real journey in life is interior: it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts.

(from "The Road to Joy", sub-titled "Letters to New and Old Friends")

I would quibble now about the simple "interior" but hey, no real argument.

As posted, the last quote comes from the volume of Merton's letters written to his friends, "The Road to Joy". The title given comes from one of the many exchanges to be found in the volume, as described by the editor of the letters in the Introduction:-

The theme of joy (a word Merton uses frequently) runs through the letters—joy found in new and old friendships, the enjoyment of being in contact with one’s friends, the rejoicing together when friendships are kept in repair. The title is taken from a phrase which Merton appropriated from one of his young correspondents, Grace Sisson. In 1962, when Grace was five, her father, Elbert R. Sisson, sent Merton a drawing she had done of a house. Merton was so enchanted with the drawing that it inspired him to write a poem, “Grace’s House,” in which he meticulously described everything which she had drawn, ending by regretting that “Alas, there is no road to Grace’s house!” Five years later, Grace sent Merton another drawing, this time of a road which she dubbed “The Road to Joy.” Merton adopted the phrase in his answer to her, using it to describe the unfathomable grace of friendship. He might well have invited all his friends to join him in traveling the “road to joy, which is mysteriously revealed to us without our exactly realizing.”

That is it really, at least as I experience it. Our "real journey in life" that in the Pure Land we know as the way of no-calculation where things are made to become so of themselves. We simply need the trust of a child, because as the Gospel of St Mark has it in one of the little Parables of the Kingdom:-

The earth brings forth fruits of herself

The meeting of Religions

 I feel a waffle coming on, so be warned. Those with the attention span of goldfish can safely move on to greener pastures......or is it wetter waters? A lot of hoo ha lately, maybe false words being spoken in the heat of debate - or whatever we wish to call it. I apologise to any who have been offended. Things can settle.

The meeting of Religions

As I see it, the Religions meet when people of different Faiths meet. What can unite them then is not doctrine, nor belief as such, but that which I often call the Living Word, the spirit that blows where it will.

One such meeting was between the Catholic Trappist monk Thomas Merton and the "zen man" (Buddhist) D.T.Suzuki. Here is Merton's testimony:-

I saw Dr. Suzuki only in two brief visits and I did not feel I ought to waste time exploring abstract, doctrinal explanations of his tradition. But I did feel that I was speaking to someone who, in a tradition completely different from my own, had matured, had become complete and found his way. One cannot understand Buddhism until one meets it in this existential manner, in a person in whom it is alive. Then there is no longer a problem of understanding doctrines which cannot help being a bit exotic for a Westerner, but only a question of appreciating a value which is self-evident.

Yes, self-evident, if we look for the fruits of the spirit and not simply look for a mirror image of ourselves or only recognise the words of our own belief system. As Merton said elsewhere, The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.

Sadly, some have not even touched the beginning of Love.

Thomas Merton and Suzuki only met on two occasions. Once was in New York when Merton had managed to escape from his monastery  and was able to enjoy a bit of NY Jazz. When they parted Merton read to Suzuki the words of a South American theologian:-

Praise be to God that I am not good!

Suzuki, apparently deeply touched, said:- "That is so important"

When some look at two religions they hear only themselves, their own creeds, beliefs, and thus decry those of another. Here, in the meeting of Merton and Suzuki we hear the spirit blowing. Suzuki, an "atheist", Merton a "theist" yet both able to dispense with labels and words. Suzuki could relate to the South American theologian's words from the heart of his own faith.

Another example was when Merton quoted to Suzuki the words of the Christian mystic Meister Eckhart:-

“In giving us His love God has given us the Holy Spirit so that we can love Him with the love wherewith He loves Himself.”

Merton adds:- The Son Who, in us, loves the Father, in the Spirit, is translated thus by Suzuki into Zen terms: “one mirror reflecting another with no shadow between them.” (Suzuki, Mysticism: East and West, p. 41) Elsewhere, Eckharts words (which Merton says are perfectly orthodox and traditionally Christian) are continued:-

We love God with His own love; awareness of it deifies us.


Suzuki hears with approval, comparing it with the Prajna wisdom of Zen.

As I see it, if we truly begin to touch the heart of our Faith we do not withdraw into a tight circle, seeking to protect its various creeds, but we begin to reach out, as spoken of here by another Buddhist:-

The dharma, can be discovered through the Buddhist tradition, but Buddhism is by no means the only source of dharma. I would define dharma as anything that awakens the enlightened mind and brings on the direct experience of selflessness. The teachings of Christ are prefumed with dharma. There is dharma in jazz, in beautiful gardens, in literature, in Sufi dance, in Quaker silence, in shaman healing, in projects to care for the homeless and clean up the inner cities, in Catholic ritual, in meaningful and competent work. There is dharma in anything that causes us to respect the innate softness and intelligence of ourselves and others. When the Buddhist system is applied properly, it does not turn us inward toward our own organizations, practices, and ideas. The system has succeeded when the Buddhist can recognize the true dharma at the core of all other religions and disciplines that are based on respect for the human image, and has no need to reject them.

And so, as I see it, there are Words and there are Living Words. If we are truly children of grace we look not for others to echo our own words, but are open instead to the fruits of the spirit. In any meeting of people there will always be truth and error on both sides - that is our finitude. What unites is not Creed, what unites is Love - a love which Reality shares freely, in which we "live and move and have our being".

It is truly desperately sad that some will simply say that there can be no meeting between truth (theirs) and error (anything contrary) They will trust in being "of the truth", awaiting the "reward" of their God in the next life. If their trust was truly in God, in Love, in Grace, then they would have no such attitude.

That's it. I doubt many - if any - will have got this far. But I find expressing myself therapeutic.

The observer is the observed

That the "observer is the observed" - the simplicity of Krishnamurti, as spoken of by another.

 Thanks. Yes, Krishnamurti was a simply guy in that sense. Reading a few biographical tidbits he apparently became a bit "cold" towards others in later days. Who knows? Did he actually realise the "peace that passes understanding"? I think some think that they have, yet often it appears to be the "peace that is all too understandable". The mind becomes satisfied with its definitions and conclusions, passes judgement upon itself that it now rests in "all truth" and, by and large, awaits death to be rewarded.

The "dropping of body and mind" of Dogen suggests that any separation (mind OR body) will slip into dualism where the observer and the observed are no longer "one". Both mind and body must be "healed".

When I spoke of loving the mystery I was speaking in terms of coming to no definitions, no final conclusions, remaining open - never claiming to have "found" and thus congealing into a smug ball of self-satisfaction where others must become our mirror image to be accepted in any truly compassionate way. Leaving such "mystery" I love the words of an old cook who said to Dogen:-

In the whole universe there is nothing that is concealed

Everything is immediately apparent, or as Dogen says:- "We are what we understand".

But such is not a static state - there is "movement toward Buddha".

A friend on the Progessive Christian Forum I sometimes visit likened/compared the old cooks statement to the Pauline "Now we see through a glass darkly, then we shall see face to face." (1 Corinthians)

Obviously there are differences. Between the "apparency" of Now, where "nothing is concealed" and the Pauline implication that it can only be in some afterlife that we shall ever see "face to face".

I remain convinced that ALL can be apparent now. That we can see others face to face, this "within" God (to use the theistic term) Relationship is paramount, the realisation of duality within non-duality. Person to person.

Meister Eckhart:-

“In giving us His love God has given us His Holy Spirit so that we can love Him with the love wherewith He loves Himself. We love God with His own love; awareness of it deifies us.”

D.T. Suzuki quotes this with approval, comparing it with the Prajna wisdom of Zen. (Suzuki, Mysticism: East and West, p. 40)

Anyway, once more I have drifted into rambling waffle. I had no idea or intention of writing so much. I have been drinking a coffee and eating a burger in MacDonald's prior to my four hour stint on the Oxfam tills. I have a few CD's of my own to play, a couple of Dylans - "Blood on the Tracks" and his Bootleg Series Volume 12, drawn from his "Blonde on Blonde" period. Good stuff, but the fast version of "Visions of Johanna" is terrible!

All the best.

The eschatology of the present moment

 

Said by another:-

I do not see the earth as an eternal place, just as a place where we bring the love and learn our lessons, before moving on. 

My response:-

Well, nothing is eternal except eternity itself. Things are always moving on. The problems seem to begin when we want them to stop, to hold onto the moment

William Blake:-

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.

There is a fine dialogue between "east" and "west" (to use the terms loosely) in "Wisdom in Emptiness", the second section of Thomas Merton's book of essays "Zen and the Birds of Appetite".

It is between Merton himself, the Catholic Trappist monk, and the "zen man" D.T. Suzuki. 

They agree on many things (it is actually a dialogue concerning the "Fall" and of how we can regain Paradise) but part ways on the subject of eschatology.

Suzuki speaks of the "eschatology of the present moment", the eternal NOW, while Merton speaks of some sort of "beyond", of some final consumation in God's Kingdom when all things are handed over to the Son. One never knows with Merton (the anti-monk) as to whether or not he is paying lip service to the Catholic censors. I've stopped trying to guess. Anyone who dallies with young nurses must become suspect......

But whatever, in the past I have tended to side with Suzuki. But the 13th century zen master Dogen seems to offer some sort of reconciliation to the parting of the ways of Suzuki and Merton.

Dogen agrees that the present moment is the "only" moment, yet there is movement toward Buddha. 

But as I see it, this must in a sense be a movement of no-calculation (Japanese "hakarai") Our definitions and conclusions, our beliefs, can forestall the movement, and hold us in the past.

As is said in St Marks gospel, in one of the Parables of the Kingdom:-

The earth brings forth fruits of herself

We can set the sails but then we must wait for the wind to blow.

Who is in control? The spirit blows where it will. 

I rest in Faith rather than belief. Faith "lets go" in pure trust, Grace. Belief clings. Faith unites. Beliefs divide us. 

We need to let go and trust the river of change, or as one joker once said:- "Stand upon the firm ground of emptiness". Or, again, as per the Christian mystic St John of the Cross:-

If we wish to be sure of the road we walk on then we must close our eyes and walk in the dark

Whatever, I still look to Dogen at the moment. He had his own questions, his own Life Koan. In concise form:-

“If all sentient beings possess the buddha-nature and Tathagata exists without change - as enunciated in the Nirvana Sutra - then why must people develop the aspiration for awakening and vigorously engage in austerities in order to realize this truth?”

Later on in life he wrote himself:-

Fundamentally, the basis of the Way is thoroughly pervasive, so how could it be contingent on practice and realization? The vehicle of the ancestors is naturally unrestricted, then why should we expend sustained effort? Surely whole being is far beyond defilement, so who could believe in a method to cultivate it? Never is the Way apart from this very place, so what is the use of a journey to practice it? Yet, if there is a hair’s breadth of distinction between existence and training, this gap becomes as great as that between heaven and earth. Once the slightest sense of liking or disliking something arises, confusion reigns and one’s mind is hopelessly lost in delusion

If I were a Christian I would be a Universalist. Which would change a few words, of Dogen's Life Koan. i.e. If all are saved, what must we do to be saved? 

Well, I have waffled enough. I find myself in MacDonald's with a coffee and just start tapping on my Kindle. I find it therapeutic. And as others have observed, I'm fundamentally harmless.