Lion's Roar Quote

"One night, when I was just about to sit down on the cushion, suddenly my body, mind, and world dropped away. At the same time, everything was present and clear. The filter of “me, I, mine” was gone. This extended into my daily life and interactions with people and events for over a month. Everything was ordinary, clear, and at peace, as if nothing was happening, yet everything was wondrous, connected, clear. Things moved but they were still; there was coming and going, but it was as if nothing had come or gone. Tasks were busily being done, but it was as if nothing was accomplished. There was no witnessing, no things, no tasks. Motion and stillness, coming and going, presence and absence were irrelevant. Responses to circumstances and things were distinct but without a reference point. Mind functioned freely when tasks required thinking, but ideas flowed without a thinker or self-consciousness. Mundane things like peeing made wonderous connections between the pee and the toilet, yet nothing had transpired. As for the Chan gong’ans (Jp. Zen koans), they became silly children’s books. There were no obstructions anywhere—obstruction and nonobstruction were irrelevant, too."

From Glimpses of Buddhanature in Lion's Roar, in the section by Guo Gu.

Sounds nice, I shouldn't be skeptical. 

In another section of the article, I found this quote by Kokyo Henkel:

"I have come to see more and more how trusting in buddhanature can relieve discouragement in my own practice. By trusting that buddhanature is always present, even if seemingly obscured, it is always possible to practice and verify it. Our usual dualistic thought is like clouds seeming to obscure the vast clear sky of buddhanature, but occasionally there’s a little hole in the clouds, a glimpse of a small spot of clear sky. From that glimpse we can infer that there’s a huge unobstructed clear sky behind the clouds—and from the point of view of the sky, the clouds don’t even obscure it in any way. The sky has no problem with clouds floating through it, since the clouds are actually made of sky."

Another quote:

This peace so profound—this unpolluted, uncreated clear light—this nectar-like dharma I have found: to whomever I may teach it, it would remain enigmatic. So I will stay silent, keeping to the forest. (Lalitavistara, Sutra of the Panoramic Play)

Source

Read the phrase "unconditioned Thusness" and I thought about Plato's forms. If Hericlutus can't step into the same river twice, Plato created unchanging forms. Unchanging forms aren't created or die, they have to be unconditioned. I found an article on Buddhism and Platonism.

Thought about a Deep Space 9 episode where a planet comes into phase, and goes out of phase, and the people exist as pure beings when it's out of phase. I also remember episodes of giant pure beings that accidentally harm a starship. 

Thought about how monks feed Kukai every day on a shrine because he's in the Dharmakaya, even though he's been dead since the 8th century.

“The dharmakaya is not nonexistent because it is known in experiential fruit.” Sallie King Buddha Nature p.66.

Thanksgiving USA

"The word tradition stems from the Latin word traditio, which translates to “delivery, surrender, a handing down, a giving up.” Maybe it’s time to realize that surrendering, or letting go, is very much a part of tradition." — Lauren Krauze

Thanksgiving is upon us, and it's a tradition of gathering for a feast. I start Thanksgiving on Tuesday and run through Sunday.

I can't not think about the genocide settlers visited upon the native americans, the various tribes indigenous to the land. That happened, there's genocides going on right now, it's a way humans think to somehow simplify life, and yet it makes it so complicated. We're all just confused simplifiers. What a horrible thing to have your tribe winnowed down and eliminated. I never had a tribe, but I have family and packs of categories I sometimes feel affinity for. I used to think I ran in the tribe of Buddhists, but getting to know them more, not sure it's a unified tribe. I have a local sangha, and they're of mixed quality, all very great people, but my relationships with them are mixed.

It's hard to be proud of who you are, it seems for humans, and not try to force people to be your way. Just enjoy, why proselytize? Why other people?

It's just relationships now for me, at this stage in my life. Everyone has gone away except a few dogged people who hang around. My daughter is very intense, but my sons have disappeared into adulthood. I said school, work and girlfriends and someone emphasized girlfriends. I've been alone for several years now for the first time since I was 16 and could drive. I can see now why bell hooks just focused on friendships.

We don't have rainy season retreats in North America, but for me winter time is a good time to intensify. I mean any time is a good time to intensify, but I'm trying to petal to the metal more mindfully these days, I can skid off the road quite easily. 

I'm oddly grateful to people who are gone, family and friends. I'm grateful for relationships that are dead now, even if the other person isn't dead, we shared a time together, but now not so much. There's so much clinging to relationships, pushing myself to let go if I have to. I'm afraid I'm like the settlers, it's not that healthy to be kind to me, but so many people are kind to me. 

I like my spartan batchelor existence, with minding duties for my daughter. She's really the center of my universe, she's my guru. So kind, thoughtful, soulfull, artistic, expressive, joyful, young and confused. So I'm thankful to be able to be her father. Happy Thanksgiving to you and what you're thankful for. 

She’s a little older now.

She meets her classmate Lucas on the walk to school, and they just run. The running is the play. They run till they have to catch their breath. It's delightful. 

HCR explains Thanksgiving 

Mindful kitchen, mindful eating

 

The first thing to consider in the kitchen is what kind of diet you’re going to have. I think veganism is the least suffering diet you can adopt. Sure there are insects that are killed in the process of gathering the food off the land maybe even some small rodents and then when they transferred it to the market and insects can die in your windshield. You can create roadkill with your tires And plants do have some rudimentary feelings, yes, but if you’re really concerned about plant feelings--and people who bring them up aren’t--then you would just eat plants because eating meat involves more plants, more pollution, so if you’re really concerned about plant feelings, great just eat the plants cause you gotta eat.

Next thing to consider is the recipe. You’re developing yourself as a cook, so if you had all you had going was your mama always cooked for you and then you’re going off to college, all right so you’re starting out, but when I went to college, I could at least make macaroni and cheese, so that was my first official dish, of course sandwiches are pretty easy to cereal is the easiest thing, right?

So today I decided to make an eggplant hero. I got a nice eggplant, got some olive oil. I’ve got some hero bread and I’ve got some salad dressings and mayonnaise that I can put on the bread to give a little more zhuzh.

I’m going to try to cut this egg plant mindfully, uniformly, but also at the right depth. How do you know when you’ve got the right depth? Well you don’t you just gotta wing it. This is where instincts come in. You gotta just have an idea in your head, the size of your cuts, and then go for it. Too slow could make some problems and too fast can make some problems so you pick a speed of cutting. You can cut as you go, or you could cut them all first and then try to figure out how they’re gonna fit in the frying pan.

Stove mindfulness is another thing. You want things to be cooked but not burnt. You have various ideas about how well done and how rare you like things. If there’s heat danger is involved, You can burn yourself in the stove phase, you can cut yourself. Eggplant suck up a lot of oil. Calibrating the right amount of oil isn't easy for eggplant. 

Assembling the sandwich, take the choice cuts of eggplant and place them on the bread. I made 2 layers today. Probably put a layer of mayonnaise on the bottom then you close the sandwich up and you cut it in half and put it on a plate. I always love a cut sandwich on a plate, it brings me great joy. Kiss the joys as they go by. 

No I’m not a very good Buddhist because I like to watch TV while I eat. It’s probably a terrible habit which I’m trying to extinguish, striving for mindful eating, but I’m not there yet. Got a Lotta habits that I don’t think are conducive to the path and gradually trying to eliminate them all. I don't have a TV but I watch shows on my laptop. 

I'm not perfect in the kitchen either, today I was listening to the BBC News. Argentina elected a new president with pretty intense rhetoric, and they have crazy inflation. 

I used to listen to sports news, but I didn't want to hear about the Jets being shellacked by the Bills. Or th Knicks being in 6th place. Or how the Rangers are in first place in the metropolitan division after 15 games. 

They barely talk hockey and never soccer, and soccer is my sport now, so I've broken my addiction to sports news. I was on a retreat and someone suggested listening to sports new was, I forget the crime, but yea, I was guilty, but I denied it. Not any more. I get intoxicated by sports, I'm glad there's a boring international break and there's nothing to watch. USA men play Trinidad and Tobago tonight at 7. I don't have the services that are streaming it, and not into bootleg broadcasts. 

Made mushroom hero later, with some raspberry dressing.

Rhino Horn Sutta

I'm reading this sutta. In the 3rd section it says:

When feelings for friends and loved ones

are tied up in selfish love, you miss out on the goal.

Seeing this peril in intimacy,

live alone like a horned rhino.

The sutta is basically about saying if there's nobody around to really practice with, then practice alone. I think people need a push to gather in sangha and time in sangha is wonderful. But sometimes there is no sangha around and conditions are not ripe to gather. 

Not every country has freedom of religion. I saw a horrible photo of women in the subway waiting for a woman who doesn't cover their head, so they could confront her, in Iran. Here is footage of a woman being hassled for a loose hijab. The freedom of religion is not to be taken for granted. 

The Christo-fascists like Mike Johnson, the speaker of the house of representatives, in the USA, are trying to do away with the separation of church and state, and install Christian nationalism. We judge other countries that aren't Christian and enforcing strict religious rules for everyone, and we're doing it here. I prefer a secular society where everyone can go about their own business, and nobody is trying to make anyone follow their conception of religion. Religious freedom seems like a basic right, but in troubled times people think they can force other people how to worship and express their spirituality. It's a desperate mistake. I wish there was more knowledge about other religions, and how there's so much variety that it's really hard to say one sect of one branch of religion is the one true sect. It's really difficult to see that kind of behavior. 

How To Talk Buddhism

 

I must say that when I hear people talk about attachments, or samsara and nirvana or karma, I think less of them. More like I read it on Reddit. I know online stuff isn't that great and there's a wide variety of experience. I don't meant to be mean to beginners. I probably shouldn't riff off of social media misconceptions from strangers.

Karma is conditionality. Some people pretend they know everything, and karma is the perfect concept for them. What is the impact of your behaviors is a good question. Ethical questions are good.

Attachments are natural, and they only wear down through arduous hard work. Talk is cheap. Years and years of trying to let something go is OK to talk about. 

Samsara and nirvana are dualistic concepts. It's safe to say most people live in samsara. Nirvana is an ideal, like enlightenment, no attachments and good karma, maybe not unreachable, but not something you casually bring up in conversation.

People can speak how they like, I'm not policing speech, I'm telling you my opinions about that speech. 

What I want to hear is meditation struggles, ethical struggles, koan struggles, friendship struggles, empathy struggles, devotion sincerity struggles, what it feels like to be you. 

Attachment

“ The most dramatic story I know about attachment comes from India and has to do with the way the Indians capture monkeys to use as pets. They attach coconut husks to stumps, and inside the husks they put a nut, with a few other goodies around the husk as bait. The monkey is attracted, eats the bait, then reaches into the husk to get the nut. In doing so he makes a fist, with the result that he can't get his hand out of the husk. His captors come up and take hold of him.”

P.115 Breath by Breath by Rosenberg 

I usually don't use that word, but I've been trying to learn about things that are maybe not as favored in Triratna, like Buddha-nature. 

I have to say I usually don't read Reddit posts that use the word attachment, and I find much of the talk about it rather superficial. It seems to be the go to idea that superficial Buddhist cling to. 

And psychologically, attachment is a good thing, insecure attachment is the thing to avoid. Read Becoming Attached by Robert Karen. So I have a natural aversion for the way Vipassana types blather on about attachment. 

I'm at the stage of my Buddhist journey where I've explored most concepts that are easy. Of course there's complex stuff in the literature that I can explore the rest of my life, and I'm doing that. But I'm also going around a mopping up some of the less favored concepts in Triratna. 

The third path of failure

 

"This is the third path of failure. Again, an ascetic or Brahmin, being unable to tend the flame, [102] erects a house with four doors at the crossroads thinking:

"Whatever ascetic or Brahmin arrives from the four quarters, I will honour to the best of my strength and ability." But in this way he only becomes an attendant on one who has attained to unexcelled knowledge and conduct."

(p. 120 Digha Nikaya translated by Maurice Walshe.)

Imagine the house with 4 doors at the crossroad. I love that image. A sort of desperate spiritual seeker, who will take anything that comes down the road. 

Lake meditation

11/13. Past 3 days this tortoise meditated with me at the lake:

11/15. Henry is not above water today, but as the sun hits, he wrestles his way into the sunlight.

Far fetched theories

I've developed another far fetched theory.

Vajramati used to make fun of my "nostril theory". When you're meditating, I think this has been proven in experiments, you rebalance your brain. Western society slants towards the left side, language and reasoning. The right brain is art. Now some of this left/right brain stuff has been debunked and the history of insights in the academic subject of psychology is that they make too much of something and move on, but the residue is still kind of interesting.

So when I have a cold, supposedly if you're breathing out of one nostril, that's the side of your brain that is dominant. Everything reverses as it goes to your brain, so the right nostril goes to your left brain. So if you're meditating and you find your left nostril is the one you're breathing through, there's some good rebalancing going on. That's the far fetched theory that Vajramati would playfully make fun of.

So today I'm reading in Buddha Nature (p.49):

"Thusness, then, is the fundamental basis of the tathagatagarbha. The author expands on the meaning of this Thusness by identifying it as the sum of two elements: the knowledge of Thusness and the realm of Thusness. The term translated here as "knowledge" (shi) is, as mentioned earlier, a standard term for the subjective, whereas "realm" (jing) is a standard term for the objective. Ordinarily the shi is the cognizer and the jing the cognized. In the case of the knowledge of Thusness (ru-ru-shi) and the realm of Thusness (ru-ru-jing), the former is the knowing that accords with the principle of Thusness, and the latter is the known that accords with that principle. Because, the author says, the two "stand together," the term Thusness as ru-ru is coined to embrace them simultaneously. As such it represents the unity of their mutuality. All of this-the ru-ru Thusness with both its subjective and objective constituents-is given in explanation of the single "Thus" of tathāgatagarbha (the ru of ru-lai-zang)."

Now I'm sure this all makes sense, but it doesn't easily go into my mind, and it kind of demonstrates a kind of complexity to Buddhism thought. 

Buddhist practice consists of study, meditation, ethics, fellowship and devotion. You don't have to have hyperbolic theory chops to be a good Buddhist. Unpacking Sallie King's paragraph doesn't necessarily make you a good Buddhist.

In anapanasati you calm mental processes and the mind. What's the difference. I could be wrong about this, but I think of mental processes as the animal mind, fear based, emotional, and the mating mind. I can't help but look at women and imagine what I'd like to do with them. 

The human brain is the peacock feathers of our species. The complexity of the human mind is unnecessary, like peacock feathers, it's about attracting a mate. The mating mind is unnecessary. I'd say a part of the spiritual life is about coming to grips with that.

I would argue that the complex Dharma is food for the mating mind, it gives it something to do instead of chasing a mate. Something to chew on instead of. In a way, the question of existence is what are you going to put your supercomputer to work on. For me it's Dharma, chess, reading, cooking, psychology, compassion, recovery, nature and beauty.

Indications of the goals of the three teachings

At age 24 Kukai writes "Indications of the goals of the three teachings". The essay is 39 pages in English translated by Hakeda in Kukai: Major Works (1972).

The first section is about Confucianism. At the time, it's very profound insight into more ethical ways of being, how not to be an animal. Today it's more like advanced Emily Post advice column. There's a kind of moralizing tone that doesn't go down very well, I get sick of pretty quick. 

It is possible that the allegorical thinking supported Kukai's poetry, and the protocol helped him in life. The how to do things and ethical strivings are supportive. It's about conventional life, and being a Buddhist monk isn't quite conventional. Going forth is a rejection of conventional life, quite revolutionary. 

There names for every kind of virtue or flaw they want to express, Tung Wei supposedly didn't care what he looked like and wore ragged clothes and had disheveled hair. Kukai moves onto Taoism. Taoism seems to be not doing the ordinary things. You eschew position and marriage and you will live long. Use medicinal herbs. You can become immortal.

Taoism is more shamanistic, it has a vague doctrine, but I like the talk about nature, being natural. In Kukai's words it's similar to Buddhism in it's wariness of pleasures and the trappings of conventional success, seeks out the long view.

He takes the perspective of a low status mendicant Buddhist. Japan had lots of un-ordained Buddhists wandering around because the emperor kept a tight rein on ordinations because the state supported ordained monks. It was a great triumph that at the end of Kukai's life, he was granted 2 a year for his Shingon sect. But mendicants were seen as low status, and I get the sense that Kukai is trying to make room for them being sincere spiritual practitioners in this essay. 

The world has changed quite a lot since Kukai. Many of the names I look up don't have any reference on the internet. When you look up "Naga girl", instead of a mythical serpent being, you get an ethnic group from India and Myanmar. The referents of Kukai's times are difficult to track down.

What does come through is that Kukai feels Buddhism is more comprehensive to Confucianism and Taoism. There is a fair amount of syncretism, so they are not obsessed with theological purity in their thinking. Honestly I don't think he really proves Buddhism is superior to Taoism and Confucianism, he discusses them and then states it.  There's a lot of name dropping, people are examples of virtues and vices, references that aren't on the internet. They would not have wikipedia articles for obscure people from 8th century Japan only mentioned in Kukai. He references lists of Buddhist and tries to engage in the mythology some. It's an early work from a long time ago. In a way it's a sort of miracle that this essay still exists. It's a document for those more into the evolution of Kukai, but it also has some interesting for personal details, and the nascent thoughts of a great Buddhist thinker, leader and spiritual hero.

Another document that comes down to us in translation is "Attaining enlightenment in this very existence"  by Kukai

I can't claim to grok the document but there are some notes.

He refers to the Mahavairocana Sutra (online). He has ideas about the vibrations positive effects of mantra. He also refers to the Aspiration of Enlightenment by Nagarjuna, which I can't find among the list of his works. Vajrasekhara Sutra is also mentioned.

The Vairocana mantra: Oṃ amogha Vairochana mahāmudra maṇipadma jvāla pravarttaya hūṃ

In the Trikaya doctrine, Gautama was the Buddha of the Nirmāṇakāya, Amitabha is the Buddha of the Saṃbhogakāya and Vairocana is the buddha of the Dharmakaya.

Amoghavajra brought Vajrayana teachings to China, and taught Huiguo, who taught Kukai and brought the teachings to Japan.

Links: 

Visible Mantra of Vairocana. 

Sallie King quote

From Buddha-Nature (1991) p.33:

“The world is not chaotic, we need not be lost in it. There is a principle, discoverable by humans, manifesting the order of the universe. By realizing this principle (more closely, by bringing ourselves into accordance with this principle) we may discover this truth of the universe, which also is the truth of our own nature. This is a reason for rejoicing, and the author of the BNT felt it imperative that this be made clear.”

BTN is Buddha Nature Treatise by Paramartha (Fo Xing Lun)

This is more consolation than confirmation. The text after that is a complicated elaboration of the ideas of Buddha Nature. 

Here is a later quote (p.49):

Thusness, then, is the fundamental basis of the tathagatagarbha. The author expands on the meaning of this Thusness by identifying it as the sum of two elements: the knowledge of Thusness and the realm of Thusness. The term translated here as "knowledge" (shi) is, as mentioned earlier, a standard term for the subjective, whereas "realm" (jing) is a standard term for the objective. Ordinarily the shi is the cognizer and the jing the cognized. In the case of the knowledge of Thusness (ru-ru-shi) and the realm of Thusness (ru-ru-jing), the former is the knowing that accords with the principle of Thusness, and the latter is the known that accords with that principle. Because, the author says, the two "stand together," the term Thusness as ru-ru is coined to embrace them simultaneously. As such it represents the unity of their mutuality. All of this-the ru-ru Thusness with both its subjective and objective constituents-is given in explanation of the single "Thus" of tathāgatagarbha (the ru of ru-lai-zang). (Footnotes removed)

Found a Green Tara Mantra on SoundCloud.

How does one take the depth of a retreat out into ordinary life? First off, one remembers what it feels like to go so deep. Second, you commit to ethics as part of the gladening. Third, you don’t cling to experience, you observe it, with the best quality of attention you can muster, body, feelings, mental processes, and mind. Fourth, you remember to remember the Dharma of your experience and the Dharma you understand. Fifthly mindfulness is a self fulfilling prophecy. If you wish to be aware on retreat and off retreat, on the cushion and off the cushion, your mind will attract the bits that support that and challenge that.

El Dia de los Muertos

The day of the dead is a Mexican holiday, maybe even from the Aztecs, where you joyfully celebrate the people you have lost. 

We're lucky to have so many cultures in NYC to learn from, so many celebrations. 

I miss my grandparents, other relatives and friends, a high school friend who had a heart attack and died. I have so many great memories. What a joy to remember them. 

Marigolds are the flowers for the day. I've seen parades in Corona Queens. I've stopped short of having a dead people altar (ofrendas) for myself but many photos I have are of deceased people. I have a coffee mug with the skeleton (calaveras). There are special foods. Traditional celebrations are wonderful. I like the aesthetic, the iconography. 

Diego Rivera has a mural that is quite cool. There is an opera where Frida comes back to Diego on El Dia de los Muertos.

Coco (2017) is the Disney/Pixar movie version exploring this tradition. In the movie, there's a family that has banished music because a musician husband left the family. So there's a story around the dead that controls the living. The specifics are perhaps specific, but the dead's influence on the present is universal. And then Miguel goes into the dead realm, and that's the odd part that is imaginative, and a mystery and so much more. Great songs.

Six Feet Under is also a show with an extended meditation on death. 

Everything seems to unfold into anicca, there is impermanence of memories of ancestors. How can I convey my dim memories of my great grandparents to my 7 year old daughter?

The Denial of Death is a pivotal book in my mind, and a day where you confront it a little is quite cool.

The refuge tree of inspiration is a kind of ofrenda.

Kondo Hall of Horyuji Temple

Link: The link goes around and has photos of the art inside the temple. They're so old, they're pretty faded, but there are some things you can see.

"The Kondo, or Main Hall, at Horyuji Temple is the world’s oldest extant wooden structure and enshrines the temple’s most important treasures. It and the Five-storied Pagoda form the centerpiece of the temple’s Western Precinct. " (source with photos)

Wikipedia: "...world's oldest wooden building..."

I find it so amazing that there are buildings that Kukai could have gone into in Nara, Kyoto, Xi'an, that still exist. Halfway to the life of the Buddha from our vantage point in time.

Kukai went to college in Nara, went there at age 16 in 790 to study with an uncle before college, and then at 22 writes his "Indications of the goals of the three teachings" which I'm trying to read right now. And then he wanders around as an unaffiliated mendicant Buddhist monk until he goes to China at age 31. I'm fascinated with this time between ending college, and going to Xi'an China, the start of the silk road, to get the teachings, so that he can go home to found the Shigon school in Japan. This Horyuji temple would have been there, they think it was rebuilt in 711.

I was looking around for Kukai representations in art and found this one. It's kind of dark, and I think it's really old. Found it at the Nara National Museum:

Facts and details about Kukai

Seattle sangha led meditation .

Yashodhara

Fabulous storytelling about Yashodhara by Professor Vanessa Sasson on YouTube. I don't even want to summarize it, because she tells it well. Cut past the introductions and it's only about 30 minutes, and then they take questions and discussion, which I didn't watch all of it. I will just say it's dramatic and human, full bodied.

I went to my shelf to find Janet Surrey's book on Yashodhara.