Recent thoughts

I play chess online. The pandemic got me playing again. Sometimes I lose 3 in a row, and that really upsets me. I can win three in a row, and I interpret that as me being a superior player. But neither really mean anything. It's the worldly winds blowing. However they choose opponents who want to play at that moment, they could easily pick three players who have lost a few, their rankings lowered, and are really stronger than their rankings suggest.

But I think the worldly winds teaching is more than just a coping statement to improve your mood. It also gets it's hook into you, to suggest that maybe deepening your spiritual life through the various means, might also help you to raise above the worldly winds. Not to be more efficient at work or empathetic in relationships. But to seek the spiritual solution to constant disappointments. 

I was watching Mom, a fun TV show that keeps recovery alive for me at times, and pokes fun at the tragedies surrounding substance abuse, and some psychological compensation. One of the characters talked about glücksschmerz, which is the opposite of Schadenfreude. Schadenfreude is happiness when a foe suffers. Glücksschmerz is sadness when someone is doing well. When Christy isn't happy for her mother getting married, Tammy says she has some glücksschmerz on her face. I laughed at that. I've cried more than I laugh at the show, but I've become a little wet. 

The true opposite of schadenfreude isn't glücksschmerz, it's mudita. Sympathetic joy. Somehow that concept has helped me to be happy for others. And that has helped me to avoid negative mental states. And avoiding negative mental states helps me to push myself harder in my spiritual practices. 

Ironically, the depressive cast that allows me to imagine I can see dukkha, is also a hindrance in the spiritual life.

I'm reading Dante's inferno, so I'm opening myself up to Christian imagery and ideas, but I think of them in terms of pure lands and hell realms.

Poverty

I think about Amos Bronson Alcott, an early American vegan, and the father of a great female novelist, who was part of the Transcendental Movement, with his fantastic educational failures, and his rejected prophecies, when I eat a cup of applesauce. He traveled to England by boat eating potatoes and applesauce.

"After many delays , Alcott sailed off aboard the Rosalind on May 8 , carrying a supply of applesauce and potatoes as his vegetarian diet ." From Baker's Emerson' Among the Eccentrics.

Too much milk and packaging, garbage, non-vegan food, non-vegetarian food, from the food pantry set up at the school to help people and families during Covid-19 pandemic. I have broken my veganism. 

Today I thought to take it like a Buddhist monk, as an offering for my efforts. I shall bow in gratitude to the City of New York for their generosity and support of my Buddhist path.

I'm gaining weight because I fear someday I won't have food, so better pack on the pounds. I can totally see why poor people are sometimes paradoxically weighty, and hate my past judgements that I can do nothing about, only live forward.

I eat a lot of potatoes. Saw someone stab a potato and put it in the microwave for 8 minutes. Now I do that all the time. A friend told someone sailed around the world and only ate olive oil. He says it's the perfect food. So I put olive oil on my potatoes. And something green, peas are the easiest, and they have protein too. I put some hot sauce for flavor, though olive oil, potatoes and peas are quite tasty.

My great grandfather was Irish. The potato famine was really terrible. Ireland has just increased its population to the amount it had before the famine. Then I wonder if the Jewish people have replenished after the Holocaust. I know a woman who had 12 children. I don't identify with any of the groups I'm in to make that kind of effort, though my child-free friend lets me know I have children, like I could forget those buggers.

Manjushri

 

Therigatha Festival!

 

Check out the resources!

I was blown away by this text. Sure I was on retreat when I read it. But I had something of a mystical experience reading it. It touched me in ways beyond words. 

Not sure who these presenters are, but I'll try and catch some of their discussions. I think this is wonderful. 

The path

 

A movable feast

 

Divan Thomas Jones reviewing Analayo's book commenting on Stephen Batchelor

"In the ‘preamble’ to his more recent book, The Art of Solitude (2020), Batchelor writes, “I do not consider The Art of Solitude to be a Buddhist book”.[3] He describes (on p.146) how, in the midst of an ayahuasca ritual, he feels that he vomits up Buddhism, and is reborn no longer wanting to be a combatant in the “dharma wars”. Nevertheless, those earlier books have been the inspiration – and were surely designed to be the inspiration – for a movement, called ‘secular Buddhism’, not unconnected with Bodhi College, the Buddhist study programme run by Batchelor and friends." (Some Gentle Buddhist Polemics)

Naomi Shihab Nye poem

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is

you must lose things,

feel the future dissolve in a moment

like salt in a weakened broth.

What you held in your hand,

what you counted and carefully saved,

all this must go so you know

how desolate the landscape can be

between the regions of kindness.

Christina Feldman

Been thinking a lot about stillness, simplicity and contentment, and somehow came across Christine Feldman's article "Stillness and Insight". It was the right article for me at the right time. 

Recently read her book Boundless Heart. I was really going to quote it up, but returned the book. She speaks on my vibration level. She has talks on Dharma Seed. She has a book on compassion and I'm reading the Analayo book on Compassion, so that might be my next book if I can get ahold of it. 

"The Buddha said it is not the right time to undertake samatha practice if you have a lot of things in the world demanding your attention. If you’re heavily in debt, or have family or relationship obligations that require attention, or if your body is ill and you are hav­ing to care for it. If there are multiple unresolved issues in your life that are going to be continu­ally demanding your attention, then the condi­tions for samatha practice are not ripe. It is said that in order to begin the deep dimension of samatha practice, it is important that the mind must be fairly happy, it should be easy to collect itself, that it’s not kind of stirred with things that are causing a lot of anxiety or concern."

My thought in reading that quote is to wonder if the Buddhist has a equanimity that isn't quite fragile. If so many conditions are required to reach these higher meditate states, and that's supposed to provide you inner resources to cope with whatever happens, but really it's jigging the circumstances to not be challenged. This line of thinking makes me want to cleave towards Mahayana.

Theravada has you seek enlightenment, no small goal. Withdraw from society and go for it. It's not an easy thing. Mahayana has you ethical, meditate and giving for the benefit of others. You might not get there, but at least you're trying to be helpful and kind to others. The other oriented outlook, helps to counteract the perhaps individualism of going for enlightenment. Of course if you have insight, you realize we're all connected, and as it says in the bible, what you do to the least of people, you do to me.

The justification for seeking out enlightenment is as follows (From Compassion and Emptiness by Analayo):

"If one is not tamed oneself and wishes to tame someone else who is untamed, that is impossible. [If] one is drowning oneself and wishes to rescue someone else who is drowning, that is impossible. [If] one has not extinguished one’s own [defilements] and wishes to make someone else with unextinguished [defilements] extinguish them, that is impossible..."

I don't actually think that is true. A little nervous not agreeing with the Buddhavacana. There are so many instances where you can work with someone in collaboration and cooperatively towards a goal. I'm no Buddha, but the Buddha figured it out without anyone else.

Somehow I feel this is related, though it's a bit of a stretch. I don't see Stoicism as a "philosophy". It's just, "suck it up," and, "walk it off," combined with, "it's your judgements that cause the pain so quit it." Maybe it's a little more than that. Maybe you recognize how you're creating pain for yourself and then you try not to do that. I think that's a basic psychological technique, but you can call it stoicism. Maybe I'm shading more towards the "nothing special" side of Zen with this line of thinking.

Refuge musings

Looking at my life, what do I really take refuge in? What are the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha up against?

By cutting at the root, our relationship with desire and pleasure, he cuts at the very heart of our enjoyment. Is not sticking the second arrow in enough to compete with these other options? 

#1. I like literature, and narratives in TV and movies. There's something about being swept away by a narrative. 

I wonder what the Buddha would think about these times. Would he understand the pull of complicated artistic narratives? Would the Buddha see the themes of samsara and be more confirmed in his path? He would probably see the love of languages, and developing an aesthetic appreciation as a distraction. 

Good storytelling and presentation of the Dharma is used to be persuasive and convert people to the way.

#2. Music is also a refuge. I can spread a wide net in these times. A new opera is streamed every day, and that's just the Met. There are more. Jazz is streamed lived often. There are so many videos of artists on Vimeo and YouTube. 

I wonder what the Buddha would think of all kinds of music these days.

Would the Buddha being irritated at these distractions make him seem like a fuddy duddy? Would he think the heavy metal monk had gone astray? Would he find it pleasant, but would politely suggest to go for enlightenment and then appreciate music.

Dharma music isn't fully developed but does exist.

#3. The chase for love and intimacy is pretty bewitching. Feeling loved, cared for, supported, understood and accepted is quite intoxicating. There can be a lot of fantasizing in love off a little spot, or love can be gritty, real and close up. It's so intoxicating you can see videos of people giving up in frustration, like a child, hoping someone will come along and say it's OK. Love is just a specific narrative, and perhaps could be included in #1 above, but relationships are more interactive than a narrative. 

Indeed family and relationships are often seen at the heart of the meaning of life, and what is central to making us happy. Friendship is co opted by Buddhism in service of the mission. The fantasy of sangha, the closeness of 

"I hope you are all keeping well, Anuruddha, I hope you are all comfortable, I hope you are not having any trouble getting alms food." They replied: "We are keeping well, Blessed One, we are comfortable, and we are not having any trouble getting alms food." Buddha: "I hope, Anuruddha, that you are all living in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes." 

Anurruddha: "Surely, venerable sir, we are living in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes."

Buddha: "But, Anuruddha, how do you live thus?"

Anuruddha: "Venerable sir, as to that, I think thus 'It is a gain for me, it is a great gain for me, that I am living with such companions in the holy life.' I maintain bodily acts/verbal acts and mental acts of loving-kindness towards those venerable ones both openly and privately. I consider: 'Why should I not set aside what I wish to do and do what these venerable ones wish to do?' Then I set aside what I wish to do and do what these venerable ones wish to do. We are different in body, venerable sir, but one in mind." The venerable Nandiya and the venerable Kimbila each spoke likewise. (MN 31 Culagosinga sutta)

Finding the right sangha is a little like the quest for love, it can be fraught with many frustrations. 

On the one hand you want to be tolerant and inclusive, but on the other hand, it can be like an exclusive club, not everyone gets into.

Can you treat everyone with love and reverence? Following this line of thinking I'm thinking that the Brahma Viharas are pretty important. I've started reading Bhikkhu Analayo's book Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation.

Free books can be got from Wildmind. The Dharma is supposed to be free, but publishing a book isn't free, and well, if an author makes a living, well that's not bad either. If the people who work at a publishing house earn a living, that can't be harmful. And most committed Buddhists put their sangha charity in their wills.

Blogging and my obsession with Buddhist culture might be an obsession distracting me from practicing meditation. Do you need anything more than some rudimentary instructions and committing to meditating a lot? 

Can Konmari and Thoreau guide us past the thicket of materialism and culture? Marshall Rosenberg can help us to communicate. 

The majority of forces in society are away from stillness, simplicity and contentment. 

Today's reflections? What distracts me? What do I not want to be distracted from?

Unknowns

 I know you don't always have to zoom in on those who are suffering most, but when I went to contemplate people I don't know, today I thought about those oppressed groups worldwide. My first thought was the Uyghurs. I just want to focus on my own problems, but pushing myself to think about people I know little about, my mind went along the lines of Samantha Powers, and wondered if we could rally support to stop unfair persecution and genocide.

I saw this photo and read the caption: A possible Tocharian or Sogdian monk (left) with an East Asian Buddhist monk (right). A fresco from the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, dated to the 9th or 10th century (Kara-Khoja Kingdom).

Basically the Chinese rulers are not into multiculturalism and diversity, and feel that their culture should dominate and conquer other cultures (BBC). The above picture represents the opposite, a 9th century ethnic group related to the Uyghurs, in friendship with a Buddhist. "Since 2017 when President Xi Jinping issued an order saying all religions in China should be Chinese in orientation, there have been further crackdowns."

Check out this picture: Tocharian Prince mourning the Cremation of the Buddha, in a mural from Maya Cave (224) in Kizil. He is cutting his forehead with a knife, a practice of self-mutilation also known among the Scythians.

Most of the Tocharian inscriptions are based on Buddhist monastical texts, which suggests that the Tocharians largely embraced Buddhism.

So... the idea that the Uyghurs have un-Chinese culture ... but some in China are trying to get rid of Buddhism too, so OK. It's not just culture, it's culture as they define it, and they find reasons to hurt others. Not cool.

Bonus Quote: Analayo

"This is vital in so far as the meditative cultivation of compassion can only lead to deeper concentration if it is undertaken with a positive or even joyful mind. From a practical perspective this means that one’s cultivation of compassion needs to steer clear of sadness. This is not easy, since what causes the arising of compassion can naturally lead to being afflicted oneself by sadness. Therefore it is important to monitor closely one’s own response to the affliction of others. This should ideally proceed from the opening of the heart that is genuinely receptive to the pain and suffering of others, to the positive mental condition of being filled with the wish for others to be free from affliction and suffering." (Compassion and Emptiness)

 

 

You know I don't think any religion owns good acts. Even so, good acts exemplify something important. In a way what the above man did is probably just what every other person would do in that situation, but it's still commendable that doing the right thing wasn't blocked in him.

Happy birthday Samantabhadra!

Some things are so deep you can learn about them your whole life. Like psychotherapy, psychology, literature and Buddhism. 

Yesterday was Avalokiteshvara's birthday. Not sure how a archetypal buddha can have a birthday, but I need to commit more, so hey, he's a deity. We make the world with our minds, n'est pas? 

"The first birthday falls on the 19th day of the 2nd Chinese lunar month. The second birthday falls on the 19th day of the 6th Chinese lunar month and the third birthday falls on the 19th day of the 9th Chinese lunar month." I'll have to take your word for it. The Chinese calendar is different than the Gregorian calendar which is what is followed around me, so much so that I didn't even know it was called the Gregorian calendar. The Chinese calendar has a leap month! So anyway, I'm not going to be able to verify that yesterday was Avalokita's birthday, but I'll take the word of people in Singapore. I chanted the mantra some to celebrate, and read the 25th chapter of the Lotus Sutra.

Today is Samantabhadra's birthday! Now I don't remember Samantabhadra but he is associated with practice and meditation. I like that. I had to pull out my trusty Meeting The Buddhas by Vessantara.

Sundhana is supposed to have traveled all over and studied with all the great teachers, and then he meets with, who culminates all his teachings and is the pinnacle. Samantabhadra has a lavish vow of making offerings to the Buddhas that is referred to in some Tibetan pujas. They imagine they are giving great offering like Samantabhadra.

Samantabhadra appears in two sutras: The Lotus Sutra (Chapter 26), and Gandavyuha Sutra (The Excellent Manifestation Sūtra). So for devotion, I will read the 26th chapter of the Lotus Sutra with devotion, to imbue the magical spirit of these lovely deities. But Chapter 26 is about medicine buddha, Bhaisajyaguru. Opse. My info was wrong. Turns out it's at the end, the Samantabhadra Meditation Sutra. (Online version)

Sundhana learns from Manjushri: "The Gaṇḍavyūha suggests that with a subtle shift of perspective we may come to see that the enlightenment that the pilgrim so fervently sought was not only with him at every stage of his journey, but before it began as well—that enlightenment is not something to be gained, but "something" the pilgrim never departed from." (Wikipedia)

Sndhana learns from Samantabhadra: "wisdom only exists for the sake of putting it into practice; that it is only good insofar as it benefits all living beings. Samantabhadra concludes with a prayer of aspiration to buddhahood, which is recited by those who practice according to Atiśa's Bodhipathapradīpa"

I like that this is put in it's epistemological place.

Samantabhadra is revered in Sri Lanka. Their main shrine to him is in Ratnapura, 101km southeast of Kandy, at Maha Saman Devalaya. If I were getting $341m like Lindor, would I spend money to travel there? I think I would.

In Japan Samantabhadra is Fugen and rides an elephant and is green. He has 10 vows.

And in north America, Samantabhadra ... I hope to see the day we have a unique twist of devotion that cottons to our culture, time and place.

I'll end with a trippy ecstatic part of the sutra and his elephant:

"The Bodhisattva Universal Worthy is boundless in the size of his body, boundless in the sound of his voice, and boundless in the form of his image. Desiring to come to this world, he makes use of his sovereign psychic powers and compresses his stature to a smaller size. Because the people in Jambudvipa have the Three Weighty Obstacles, by the power of his wisdom he appears by transformation as mounted on a white elephant. The elephant has six tusks, and seven limbs, (supports its body on the ground?). Under its seven limbs, seven lotus flowers grow.

The elephant is white as snow, the most brilliant of all shades of white, so pure that even crystal and the Himalaya Mountains cannot compare with it. The body of the elephant is four hundred and fifty yojanas in length and four hundred yojanas in height. At the tip of the six tusks rest six bathing pools. In each bathing pool grow fourteen lotus flowers as large as the pools. The flowers bloom majestically, like the king of celestial trees.

On each of these flowers sits a jade maiden whose countenance is red as crimson and whose radiance surpasses that of a goddess. In the hand of that maiden five harps appear by transformation, each of them with five hundred musical instruments as its accompaniment.

Five hundred birds fly up, including ducks, wild geese, and mandarin ducks, in color like precious gems, and settle among flowers and branches.

On the elephant's trunk there is a flower with a stalk the color of a red pearl. Its blossom is golden, its shape is still a bud that has not yet blossomed.

After witnessing this event, if a person further repents of his offenses, and contemplates the Great Vehicle attentively, with entire devotion, and ponders it in his mind without cease, he will be able to see the flower spontaneously bloom, and radiate with a golden color. The blossom of the lotus flower is made of kimsuka gems en laid with wonderful, pure Mani jewels; the stamens are made of diamond.

A transformation Buddha appears, sitting on the petals of the lotus flower with a host of Bodhisattvas sitting on the stamens. From the eyebrows of the transformation Buddha a ray of light appears and enters the elephant's trunk.

This ray, the color of a red lotus flower, emanates from the elephant's trunk and enters its eyes; the ray then shines from the elephant's eyes and enters its ears; it then comes from the elephant's ears, illuminates its head, and changes into a golden platform.

On the elephant's head there are three transformed attendants: one holds a golden wheel, another a jewel, and another a vajra pestle. When the attendant raises the pestle and points it at the elephant, the latter immediately walks (a few steps?).

The elephant does not tread on the ground but hovers in the air, seven feet above the earth, yet the elephant leaves its footprints on the ground. The footprints are altogether perfect, marking the wheel's hub with a thousand spokes. From each hallmark of the wheel's hub grows a great lotus flower, upon which an elephant appears by transformation.

This elephant also has seven legs and walks after the great elephant. Every time the transformed elephant raises and brings down its legs, seven thousand elephants appear, all following the great elephant as its retinue.

On the elephant's trunk, in hue like a red lotus flower, sits a transformed Buddha who emits a ray from his eyebrows.

This ray of light, in similar fashion, enters the elephant's trunk.

The ray emerges from the elephant's trunk and enters its eyes;

the ray then shines from the elephant's eyes and again enters its ears; it then comes from the elephant's ears and reaches its head.

Gradually rising to the elephant's back, the ray is transformed into a golden saddle which is adorned with the Seven Precious Gems.

On the four sides of the saddle are the pillars made of the Seven Precious Gems, which are decorated with precious objects, forming a jeweled pedestal. On this pedestal there is a lotus flower stamen bearing the Seven Precious Gems, and that stamen is also composed of a hundred jewels. The blossom of that lotus flower is made of a great Mani-jewel.