Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond

Philosopher that I am, on the back burner of my mind is an ongoing investigation into this marvelous experience we are all sharing called Life. (In fact, that's what this weblog is largely about.) There is a program running in the back of my mind -- always running! -- that is trying to figure it all out. I think that if I keep on thinking about it all long and deep enough, I'll finally breakthrough and Understand the Mystery.

Then a few mornings ago I opened up "Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond," by Ajahn Brahm, a marvelous "meditator's handbook." I turned to page 12 and read the following:

"Sometimes we assume it is through the inner commentary that we know the world. Actually, that inner speech does not know the world at all. It is the inner speech that spins the delusions that cause suffering. Inner speech causes us to be angry with our enemies and to form dangerous attachments to our loved ones. Inner speech causes all of life's problems. It constructs fear and guilt, anxiety and depression. It builds these illusions as deftly as the skillful actor manipulates the audience to create terror or tears."

This hit me like a splash of cold water on my sleepy face. So, this instrument, the mind, with which I have been trying to understand life and the world, "does not know the world at all"! It "spins delusions" and "causes all of life's problems." Hmmm, seems I'm going to have to recalibrate my strategy for discovering Truth. I am confident Brahm has it right, as his assertions align with the teachings of spiritual masters down the ages: it is mindfulness rather than thinking that reveals the Truth. I am reminded of the words of Sri Aurobindo, "There is nothing that mind can do that cannot be better done in the mind's thought-free stillness." So off with the thinking and the endless train of words. Time for silent awareness.

Do It Now

There are many values, virtues, principles, and lessons I need to learn, but the one I seem to be most in need of learning, and the one with which I struggle the most, is Do It Now. Ralph Marston (http://greatday.com) puts it well:

"Things you're always going to do later never do get done. What you put off until someday will always be out of your reach.

"If anything is important enough to do someday, then it is worth starting on right now. If you're going to actually do it, then you must do it in the moment you're in.

"Procrastination may seem like an easy way to avoid taking action. What it really is, though, is an ever-increasing burden of guilt and regret that you place on yourself.

"Think of how awful it feels to know that you could have done, or could be doing, but instead you waited until too late. Fortunately, there is a simple and highly effective way to ease that burden.

"Take action now. Choose something that you have continued putting off, and go ahead and get it done.

"You've made many great plans and promises. Go ahead, act on them, and see how great it is to make them real."

These wise words are now posted on my office wall. Maybe that will help me get it.

Be Suspicious of Yourself

A friend of mine sent me this marvelous poem by the incomparable Rumi. Take a deep drink and enjoy!

Everything you do has a quality
which comes back to you in some way.

Every action takes a form in the invisible world,
which may be different from how you thought

it would appear. A crime is committed,
and a gallows begins to be built. One does not

look like the other, but they correspond.
Accept the results of what you've done in anger,

or for greed, or to elevate your ego. Don't blame
fate! That dog lies in the kennel

and will not respond to anyone's calling.
Be suspicious of yourself! Inquire

about your hidden motives. It takes courage
to repent, and more courage to change.

But realize this: just as dustgrains shine
in sunlight coming through this window,

so there's a light of reality, within which ideas,
hidden hypocrisies, and the qualities

of every action become clear. All you've done
and will do will be seen in the light of that sun.

The Natural State

I chanced upon a website of great wisdom and insight the other day. This guy John Wheeler really smacks of enlightenment. If you have any interest in the big questions of life, especially, Who Am I?, I'm sure you'll like the site. You can find it at http://www.thenaturalstate.org/ Here's a sample of what you'll find under "Pointers":

"The basic point is that through all thoughts, feelings and experiences, your natural being remains, present and aware. Like the sun above the clouds, that remains free and clear always. It is so clear, present and available it need not be attained, realize or practiced — simply noticed as the ever-present natural state."

The Present Moment

It's been twenty years since I first discovered this quotation, and it enchants me today as much as ever it did. This wondrous excerpt from Abandonment to Divine Providence by a Jesuit priest was included in Alan Watts' autobiography, and today I present it as my gift to you:

"If we knew how to greet each moment as the manifestation of the Divine Will, we will find in it all the heart could desire. The present moment is always filled with infinite treasures: it contains more than you care capable of receiving. The Divine Will is an abyss of which the present moment is the entrance; plunge fearlessly therein and you will find it more boundless than your desire."

Until One Is Committed

It's been more than twenty years since I was first introduced to the following bit of wisdom, which may very well be the best thing ever written about the inestimable value of commitment:

Until one is committed
There is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
Always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
There is one elementary truth,
The ignorance of which kills countless ideas
And splendid plans:
That the moment one definitely commits oneself,
Then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
That would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision
Raising in one's favor all manner
Of unforeseen incidents and meetings
And material assistance,
Which no man could have dreamt
Would have come his way.
I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

I AM THAT

A few days ago I picked up a book I have been reading off and on for a few years. Dubbed "a modern spiritual classic," which indeed it is, I AM THAT is a compilation of talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Between the covers of this glorious book are countless gems of unfathomable wisdom. For example, in response to the question, "Do you experience the three states of waking, dreaming and sleeping just as we do, or otherwise?", he answers with the following words:

"All the three states are sleep to me. My waking state is beyond them. As I look at you, you all seem asleep, dreaming up words of your own. I am aware, for I imagine nothing. It is not samadhi, which is a kind of sleep. It is just a state unaffected by the mind, free from the past and future. In your case, it is distorted by desire and fear, by memories and hopes; in mine it is as it is -- normal. To be a person is to be asleep."

Truly, Nisargadatta, recently deceased, was a great sage of deep understanding and profound wisdom. Anyone thirsty for the living waters of truth would do well to drink deeply the words of this great Master.

"What you are, you must find out. I can only tell you what you are not. You are not of the world, you are not even in the world. The world is not, you alone are. You create the world in your imagination like a dream. . . . Don't be afraid of a world you yourself have created. Cease from looking for happiness and reality in a dream and you shall wake up."

The Secret

Perhaps you've heard about the recent release of "The Secret," a new film (and book) which promises to reveal the secret of the ages -- the secret of success, health, wealth, and all the good things life has to offer. This new film can be viewed in its entirety (90 minutes) online for $4.95, or you can watch a shorter 24-minute version for the bargain basement price of $0.00. Whether or not it actually reveals the Secret I'll leave for you to decide. But whether it does or not, it certainly is entertaining, well done, and well worth watching. You can find the short version at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1279084763732767570&q=%22the+secret%22
Enjoy!

What is Life?

What, indeed, is life? Surely we have all asked and pondered that question. Kind of a tough question to pin down, isn't it? The following, which was seen in a draper's shop in India, is as good an answer as I have ever found:

Life is a challenge . . . Meet it
Life is a gift . . . Accept it
Life is an adventure . . . Dare it
Life is a sorrow . . . Overcome it
Life is a tragedy . . . Face it
Life is a duty . . . Perform it
Life is a game . . . Play it
Life is a Mystery . . . Unfold it
Life is a song . . . Sing it
Life is an opportunity . . . Take it
Life is a journey . . . Complete it
Life is a promise . . . Fulfil it
Life is a love . . . Embrace it
Life is a beauty . . . Praise it
Life is a spirit . . . Realize it
Life is a struggle . . . Fight it
Life is a puzzle . . . Solve it
Life is a goal . . . Achieve it

This was included in a wonderful anthology of spiritual writings, The Mystic Vision: Daily Encounters with the Divine, compiled by Andrew Harvey and Anne Baring. One "Life is" that I might add is "Life is an extravaganza . . . Celebrate it!"

Zen Sexuality

Sex is not an obstacle on the Zen path, but rather an opportunity to enhance awareness.

The following was reprinted from "At Home in Muddy Water: A Guide to Finding Peace within Everyday Chaos" by Ezra Bayda, with permission of Shambhala Publications.

A young Zen student realized he had some sexual difficulties. He thought about going to his teacher for help but felt a lot of hesitation: “Maybe it’s not appropriate to talk to my teacher about sex. What’s he going to think of me?” He went to the teacher anyway and described the situation. The teacher told him, “We must struggle with desire. Go back to your cushion and learn what it means to struggle with desire.”

The dutiful and persevering student went back to his cushion and struggled with his desire. But for some reason he didn’t get very far. In fact, it seemed like his problem became even worse. So he decided to go to another teacher. This time he went to a teacher who was very famous for his deep Zen wisdom. He told the teacher about his situation. The teacher peered at him in an inscrutable Zen way and said, “No sex. No not-sex. Not one. Not two.” And he rang his bell, dismissing the student.

The student was impressed by this teaching, but when he got back to his cushion, he had no idea what to do with it. Finally he decided to go to another teacher, one famous for his ardent devotion to practice. This teacher said, “Okay, this is what you need to do. Whenever your sexual difficulty arises in your mind, you just stop whatever you’re doing and do one hundred and eight full prostrations, thinking only of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion.” The student really liked this advice, because now he had something he could do.

The student followed the third teacher’s advice and became very, very good at bowing. But after some time, he felt as though he were squeezing a balloon right in the middle: as the middle would scrunch up, both ends were close to bursting at the seams.

Even though the student was discouraged, he decided to go to yet another teacher. He saw that maybe he was trying too hard, so he decided to see a teacher who was famous for being laid back. “No problem. Just be one with it. Just let it go,” that teacher said. At this point, the student was becoming cynical. He realized this advice was just words. But still, he had a real aspiration to deal with his situation. Again, he found a new teacher. And finally, in this last teacher’s reply, he understood what all the other teachers were telling him: “We don’t talk about sex here.”

The first thing we need to do, as people, as practitioners, is bring sexuality issues into our awareness. This is how we make them part of our practice world. . . .

With these words, Ezra Bayda goes on to discuss sexuality from a Zen perspective. His discussion can be found at:
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/128/story_12814_1.html

Overcoming Procrastination

I have a major problem with procrastination. I am always putting off the unpleasant tasks that I need to do. This habit goes a long way towards making my life a shambles, and I have simply been unable to turn this habit around. But there is hope! I recently read a fantastic article which explores the root causes of procrastination and gives several practical tools to overcome it. Within minutes of finishing the article, I tackled a project that I had been putting off for months. Surprisingly, it took me all of twenty minutes to finish it!

I found the article at a website which I have been visiting for awhile for its wealth of fine articles, all offered for free! According to the website's author, Steve Pavlina: "This site will help you learn to live more consciously, to summon the courage to face the unfaceable parts of your life, and to solve the deep problems you've not yet been able to solve. You'll learn practical ideas to make important changes in your life, both big and small, so you can get your life on track and start living up to your potential."

So, if procrastination is giving you a hard time, you may want to check out this article. It's a little early to judge, but so far, it seems to be helping me. You can find the article on Overcoming Procrastination, as well as many others, at http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/overcoming-procrastination.htm

Why Aren't You Richer?

With all this talk (in yesterday's post) about the secrets of happiness, it's probably time to move on to what many believe is the secret of happiness -- money. Years ago I saw some financial adviser on TV proclaim that 90% of winning the financial game was spending less than you make. Well, that sounded reasonable to me. Then I picked up Jean Chatzky's, Make Money, Not Excuses the other day. In her Introduction, she takes this idea a bit further:

"It took me only fifteen years reporting on money and how people should be using it to have the following epiphany: If you want to get rich, if you want to be wealthier than you are today, you really need to do only four things. That's right, just four things:

* You need to make a decent living.
* You need to spend less than you make.
* You need to invest the money you don't spend so that it can work as hard for you as you're working for yourself.
* And you need to protect yourself and this financial world you've built so that a disaster -- big or small -- doesn't take it all away from you.

"Everything else is just window dressing. The fees -- and how to avoid them. The advisers -- and how to hire them. The deals. The scams. The ins. The outs. They are all interesting. Some of them are even quite important. But until you have conquered the heart of the matter, they are all minutia.

"The four cornerstones, by contrast, are the meat and potatoes of your financial life. If you do those things today, you'll start getting rich tomorrow. And once you feel set financially, you'll be able to start focusing on the truly important things in life."
------------------
In my view, those four things might be summarized thusly:
* Earn it
* Save it
* Invest it
* Protect it

So now I suppose we are all pretty well-armed to go out there and make a fortune. Good luck!

The Secrets of Happiness

Picked up an interesting book at the library the other day: The Secrets of Happiness: Three Thousand Years of Searching for the Good Life, by Richard Schoch. Never could resist a book that might shine some light on the happiness question. From the Introduction:

"Unhappy is the story of happiness. More than two thousand years ago, when the ancient Greeks first thought about what constitutes "the good life," happiness was a civic virtue that demanded a lifetime's cultivation. Now, it's everybody's birthright: swallow a pill, get happy; do yoga, find your bliss; hire a life coach, regain your self-esteem. We have lost contact with the old and rich traditions of happiness, and we have lost the ability to understand their essentially moral nature. Deaf to the conversation of the ages, we deny ourselves the chance of finding a happiness that is meaningful. We've settled, nowadays, for a much weaker, much thinner happiness: mere enjoyment of pleasure, mere avoidance of pain and suffering. The so-called new science of happiness perpetuates this impoverished notion of the good life. Somewhere between Plato and Prozac, happiness stopped being a lofty achievement and became an entitlement.

"We can reject this modern enfeeblement of happiness. We can recover its ancient traditions, the traditions that began in the West with the philosophers of Athens and in the East with the anonymous Hindu sages of the Axial Age. We can, with no exaggeration, call these traditions a secret, so unpracticed, if not obscured, have they become. Yet the secret will not resist our attempt to find it."

I personally found these opening lines rather eye-opening. (No pun intended) It never occurred to me that happiness was a "civic virtue" requiring "a lifetime's cultivation." Nor did I realize it was a "lofty achievement" or that it had a "moral nature."

The book goes on to explore several traditions of happiness to be found in various religions and philosophies. If I were to actually finish reading this book, who know?, I may even discover "The Secrets of Happiness." Wouldn't that be wonderful?!