the kongdan foundation

Living the bodhisattva vow

BODHISATTVA’S PRACTICE

*A bodhisattva is one who is committed to the good in everything around him. The term bodhisattva was used primarily to refer to the Buddha Shakyamuni (as Gautama Siddhartha is known) in his former lives.

Pictured to the right and below is the illustration of the sutras (Buddhist scriptures) coming from India to Xian to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

The stories of his lives, portray the efforts of the bodhisattva to cultivate the qualities, including morality, self-sacrifice, and wisdom, which will define him as a buddha. Later, and especially in the Mahayana tradition – the major form of Buddhism in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan – it was thought that anyone who made the aspiration to awakening – vowing to become a buddha—is therefore a bodhisattva.

To understand Zen and Buddhist teachings and meditation practice, you must first endeavor to practice pure perception…

Paramita is a Sanskrit word, which means to cross over to the other shore. 

It implies crossing over from the sea of suffering to the shore of happiness, from the samsara of birth and death to nirvana and from ignorance to enlightenment. As we enter a new year our focus should be moving ourselves and others to our highest endeavor and destiny. To what takes us there.

To mountain vistas – Yellow Mountain in China the famous inspiration for poets and writers for thousands of years where it was thoughts you could reach out and touch heaven.

To whom we are ultimately to become enabling our inherit nature along with divine order to manifest themselves through us.

We begin with something I saw a few weeks ago identified only as written by epc in 1956. An adaptation of which I have added below.

A lot of what you will see here in the coming year is what I define as “defining Zen as our bliss unfolds and what takes us there” beginning with the following:

I have gone beyond to the place of no concepts and no forms…

Not even emptiness – it is just beyond beyond.                                                                          Two doors are there, they open from within.

On closer inspection they are two gates. Moving even closer reveals that no keys are needed as there are no gates.

No doors, gateless gates – going through these gates there is a shore and a boat. The boat is empty now. No one gets in the empty boat. This nobody is on the Way to the other shore.

Suddenly, this nobody realizes that Zen’s gateless gate and Tao’s empty boat… both are on the same path. The same river, the very same Way.

It is now so noticeably clear that this nobody in an empty boat sailing through gateless gates and now seeing lights and illumination everywhere is on their way home again.

Namaste

Chapter 1 To know our story and then to live it.

We begin with where we are, what our priorities have been until now and what we wish to accomplish in the time remaining in our lives. We should ask, why limit ourselves with narrow and petty goals that leave us with a bitter taste? Why not turn to what is essential – the pure joy of being, unconditional love, and true presence.

How do we get to this state of true presence? Over time, meditation and mindfulness have shown us the way. That True joy is moments of internal peace, love and goodness, openness towards others, and to the world. That our wellbeing and happiness come from our state of mind. Phakchok Rinpoche’s “In the Footsteps of Bodhisattvas, Buddhist teachings on the essence of Meditation”, among many others, give us the structure to follow. References to seated meditation are often referred to as the chapters unfold below.

I am also guided primarily by “The Way of Complete Perfection”, A Quanzhen Daoist Anthology by Louis Komjathy. Books by Alan Watts, especially “The Way of Zen”, and others will be added for emphasis with a focus primarily on capturing the flow of universal thought, looking to history and the Buddhist sutras. Emulating the traits of what it means to be a bodhisattva are an effective way forward.

How does the bodhisattvas vow mesh with Lao Tzu and Taoist thought and becoming the sage? Not just to what is “out there beyond us”, but something we simply do by our presence, the structure and discipline we live by and walk every day.

A Buddhist practice does not require us to become Buddhists. With mindfulness and meditation, it could, with awakening to our highest endeavor and destiny… be the key to our own story, enlightenment, and Zen.

  • This is entry number one of over a dozen that are to follow.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – 1 Aligning with what our lives should look like.

Key thought: Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness. Thich Nhat Hanh   Meditation is simply seeing things as they really are, learning to see what is, as it is.

What is it the steps look like:

  1. What is the reason for meditation and mindfulness? Why should a spiritual practice center on coming to a presence where we aspire to our highest endeavor and ultimate destiny? What is it that the Buddha’s vision of ultimate reality looks like? What is it that can be defined as our intangible essence, and why is it important to find and continue?
  2. It is finding the right conditions and aligning with what takes us there. In Buddhism this would be to mirror us authentic selves with authentic practice by what are known as “walking the path”. Or it may be considered as traveling the path of complete awakening through connecting with and cultivating bodhicitta, the awakening mind of compassion and to what Watts called suffering, or better said that life as we usually live it is suffering. He tells us that the Buddha’s teachings convey the characteristics of being, or becoming, and the absence of self. (p 46)
  3. What is important in studying The King of Meditation Sutra we follow here, is that it includes instructions on how to behave, how to skillfully think, and how to use the material world to support your training with advice on getting out of your own way to enable your innate wisdom to come forward.
  4. This brings me to definitions. Understanding and applying Buddhism to our lives means having a sense of the premise of what you are thinking and talking about, especially in expressing ourselves to others. Something in Taoism we refer to as heart/mind. If you do not fully comprehend the meaning of common terms that are used such as arhat, bodhicitta, bodhisattva, dharma, samadhi, samsara, sangha, tathagata, the five aggregates, etc., then the content and context are lost.
  5. Especially if your practice centers on the act of sitting in meditation. It would be like setting out on an unknown path without knowing from where we came, rather we are on the correct path, and most importantly that we can reach our destination from the path we are taking. Also, there is confidence in our own understanding when we can internalize the meaning when the path becomes us with insight becoming reality.
  6. So, while a glossary of terms may be included elsewhere, here are the ones used most frequently:

Arhat – In Buddhism, a perfected person, one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved nirvana (spiritual enlightenment). The arhat, having freed himself from the bonds of desire, will not be reborn.

Bodhicitta – The awakening mind of compassion usually divided into what are two truths of reality – relative and the ultimate. First, relative is what we train in while on the path. And second, the ultimate is the complete enlightened state of being, to what is known as supreme samadhi in which we work for the good of all beings as if it were our own.

Bodhisattva – After buddhas, the most important beings in Mahayana iconography are bodhisattvas. The word bodhisattva means “enlightened being.” Very simply, bodhisattvas are beings who work for the enlightenment of all beings, not just themselves. They vow not to enter Nirvana until all beings enter Nirvana together.

Dharma – What consists of our character or essential qualities, our essence and virtue that connects us to the universe and to all things. The word often is defined as “the teachings of the Buddha.” 

Samadhi – The highest form of meditation and mindfulness, it is where we connect with and experience the oneness found in the universe. A meditation that brings complete realization, total understanding, and one to equality. How we go from ignorance to enlightenment… to ultimately move beyond meditation and to become naturally virtuous, gentle, and loving.

Picture taken in Tibet at the Lhasa Jokhang Temple / Samadhi is a state of intense concentration achieved through meditation. The Jokhang Temple is the Spiritual Center of Tibet. Jokhang means ‘House of Buddha’. Located in the center of old Lhasa city, Jokhang Monastery is the prime seat of the Gelugpa (Yellow) Branch of Tibetan Buddhism. It was originally built in 647 AD.

Samsara – The continual repetitive cycle of birth and death that arises from ordinary beings’ grasping and fixating on a self and experiences. Specifically, samsara refers to the process of cycling through one rebirth after another within the six realms of existence.

Sangha – The community in which we live. Usually comprised in practical terms of people who may come together in a sitting practice of meditation.

Tathagata – This refers to a Mahayana Buddhist doctrine that Buddha Nature is within all beings. Because this is so, all beings may realize enlightenment. Often described as a seed, embryo, or potentiality within each individual to be developed.

The five aggregates – The five aggregates are form, sensation, perception, mental formation, and consciousness.

To the left is the depiction of the Paleta Place and surrounding area in Lhasa including the Sera Monastery where this picture was taken.

  1. The King of Meditation Sutra is a much referred to and used Mahayana scripture called the “Great Vehicle” of the Buddha’s teachings. It takes as its goal the liberation from suffering that leads to the realization of the twofold emptiness of self and of phenomena.
  2. We should acknowledge that emptiness does not mean that things do not exist, or the “no self” mean that we do not exist. Emptiness refers to the underlying nonseparation of life and the fertile ground of energy that gives rise to all forms of life.
  3. But we must first move beyond Samsara by the process of shifting past meditation as well, seeing our way to our highest endeavor by gaining wisdom, be virtuous, reduce our negative behavior and seeing the natural purity of everything. To gain the true nature of reality, meaning going to a vividness of our mind’s empty nature that lacks any permanent identity, to simple pure awareness and be willing to go there.

It is here I like to reference another source, a book entitled “The way of the White Clouds” by Govinda, where he discusses the fulfillment of the vow by the bodhisattva who retains the continuity of his consciousness over many lives and deaths on account of an aim that is bigger than of a single human existence. It is our higher aspirations and our aim that make us immortal – not the permanence of an immutable separate soul, whose very sameness would exclude us from life and growth and from the infinite adventure of the spirit and condemn us forever to the prison of our own limitations.

Reading the above multiple times to let the idea settle into thought is important. It’s not an agree or disagree thing – but as a mechanism to be open to awareness, change, and reality. (p 130).

  1. It is here that the cross-over and merging for myself, moves from the traditional sage found in Taoism to that of the bodhisattvas and our actions in samsara – the mundane world. We take this step through our natural unfolding as a matter of expression. To attain this realization, we create positive conditions that support its unfolding. For many, meditation, and mindfulness of samadhi acceding to the highest attainment of themselves, is the goal.

The sutras from India going overland to Xian and what would become the Big Wild Goose Pagoda

  1. Chapter 1 of the sutra relays that we are not to hold those who suffer in contempt, but to give them wealth, and not to despise the impoverished. We are to have compassion for those with poor discipline, benefit others with helpful gifts, and to demonstrate loving-kindness. To act beyond judgment of others as we move closer to becoming our authentic selves without hypocrisy.
  2. Mindfulness means developing discernment and determining what should be either adopted or abandoned. In doing so, we are to keep a close eye on what motivates us. This kind of mindfulness requires continuous cultivation and joyful effort and brings clarity to our intentions.

I am reminded of Sun Ch’ang-hsing, who was a Taoist Master and seventh patriarch of the Dragon Gate sect of the Golden Lotus lineage and his commentary of Lao Tzu’s Chapter 16 of the Tao Te Ching, when he says, “Emptiness is the Way of Heaven. Stillness is the way of Earth. There is nothing that is not endowed with these, and everything rises by means of them”.

The Jintian Taoist Palace Temple at the top of Huashan Mountain in Anhui the home of Taoist priests and monks for thousands of years.

  1. Self-awareness and becoming skilled in knowing what is both helpful or harmful to us and others by visualizing and observing our motivations is a key factor in having a positive seated meditation practice. This is the basis of mindfulness and the beginning of insight and lasting wisdom.
  2. Settling our mind on the form, or visualization of the Buddha, brings us a calm awareness. Our power of concentration moves us to focus on both stillness and resting in the enhancement of our mind. With this, we are to develop the strength of our realization of emptiness by letting go of those things that no longer define us.

The Circle of Life depicted at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xian

  1. Training our mind, we learn to discard concepts, obtain fearlessness and confidence, and to rest in silence. As we come closer to the teachings of the Buddha, we can appreciate the meaning of ultimate reality and understand that there is little or nothing more to be said. Chapter 11 of the Sutra
  2. It is in this realization, we find ourselves returning to the discipline found in a pure heart, the Buddha, and comfort found in an awakened mind. With this wisdom, we choose our lives. We can go forward, stay only within the knowledge we now possess and practice a little, or simply return to the world of samsara.
  3. What is it that shapes our ultimate endeavor and destiny… and does it matter? Do we practice what is taught in The King of Meditation Sutra that brings us to happiness and worldly bliss? Move past this to what is called an arhat, who will attain the bliss of going beyond the afflictions of negative emotions. Or even a fully awakened Buddha, to profound samadhi that will lead to total mental purification, vast wisdom, and the unspeakable power of full awakening.
  4. What can our ultimate role be, but to move beyond worldly afflictions of negative emotions to become a fully awakened Buddha – practicing samadhi – moment by moment meditation that leads to total mental purification, vast wisdom, and full awakening… to follow in the footsteps of bodhisattvas.

Chapter 2 Opening ourselves to everyday transcendence and Zen

What can it mean to possess a “zen mind”? Two books stand out that deserve attention before moving to the path of the bodhisattvas and more. Also, this entry is chapter two of thirteen and perhaps more, so we are just getting underway. So much is determined by the flow, patterns of how we live, and who and what we in turn follow…

First, is “The Snow Leopard”, by Peter Matthiessen, it is highly recommended and amazing as the author takes us on a journey of discovery that pulls us to who we are supposed to be, and to what some would say to who we have always been. I do not have space here for a book review but want to extract a few elements that contribute to the effort, and hopefully encourage you to go further for your own journey. Opening doors to ways of seeing what may be considered as old and putting a new twist on things that bring us to awakening and teaching what should be relevant. This is the first step to understanding what it means to pursue the courage of our existence by being right here right now and nowhere else.

What I liked especially in The Snow Leopard, as two friends trekked up the Himalayas in search of the snow leopard, was the author’s references to Buddhism and history. As well as the narrative of the trip itself. Matthiessen was a great storyteller. A character in the book who identifies himself as a Buddhist conveys ideal of the bodhisattva as one who has deferred his own eternal peace of nirvana, remaining here in the samsara state until all of us become enlightened; in this way Mahayana Buddhism answered man’s need for a personal god and divine savior. Saying the “universe itself is the scripture of Zen, for which no religion is no more and no less than the apprehension of the infinite in every moment.”  He goes on to tell us that the traditional founder of Chan Buddhism (in Japan what became Zen) was Bodhidharma, a teacher in the line of Shakyamuni Buddha, who carried the teachings to China in 527 AD from India who was to be influenced by Lao Tzu and the Tao. And I would add the writings of Chuang Tzu, who was influential in showing the connections between what existed at the time in China, and what would follow. My friend Chuang will be added to the mix of over a dozen entries here as we tell the story as well.

The book conveys a continuity of thought, a universal flow that permeates us all. I have read The Snow Leopard a half dozen times and refer to it frequently. More on The Snow Leopard later.

In following the theme from Chapter One, why not turn to what is essential – the pure joy of being, unconditional love, and true presence. How do we get to this state of true presence? Over time, meditation and mindfulness have shown us the way. As well as the openness to change. That true joy is moments of internal peace, love and goodness, openness towards others, and to the world. That our well-being and happiness come from our state of mind. Phakchok Rinpoche’s “In the Footsteps of Bodhisattvas, Buddhist teachings on the essence of Meditation”, among many others, give us the structure to follow. References to seated meditation are often referred to as the chapters unfold below. This series continues to follow the path of the bodhisattva’s role in history and what we should consider as our own. Additionally, I am not an expert, simply someone opening doors to my own enfoldment and showing in as broad strokes as possible the way for others.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – 2 Searching for the true me… you must first visualize the outcome and then go there.

Key thought: Releasing attachments to conditions in perpetual change. Clearing away ideas that say things should look and act a certain way and what the steps going forward should look like.

  1. We spend our time looking for substantiality where it does not exist. Looking for purpose and identity as the focus to who we are yet to become. The who, what where when and why of ourselves. But no matter what we rely on, who we are is nowhere to be found.
  2. We are to acknowledge that there is not a single thing that is not composed of other things. Every object is made up of parts and each part is made up of more parts and this continues indefinitely. We are as the ancient Chinese said simply one of the ten thousand things.

In looking at Chapter 22 of the Tao Te Ching, Wang Pi tells us, “As with a tree, the more of it there is, the farther it is from its roots. The lesser of it there is, the closer it is to its roots. More means more distant from what is real. Less means closer.” p. 44 Red Pine’s Taoteching.

To the right is the Fairy Maiden Peak on Yellow Mountain also known as Mount Huangshan in Anhui. I took this picture in October 2016.

  1. We are not our body as it is destined to decay. This being so who are we? It is our attachment to this body which creates complications and distractions. It is the Buddha that reminds us that we can learn to see how meaningless it is to remain overly attached to our physical body by remembering that we are not our body. That rebirth is neither a theory, nor a belief, but an experience.
  2. We need to realize selflessness to be free from attachment. Identifying the mind as the self, as an attempt to find the mind, is also fruitless. However, the mind creates all the facets of our present life.
  3. Because self does not exist, efforts to protect it with the hope of gaining lasting happiness are doomed from the beginning. It bears repeating, we need to realize selflessness, which frees us from both good and bad as we teach the Dharma of selflessness as Chapter 14 of the Sutra tells us, and that we are to be free from attachment. With this we can begin to stabilize both our meditation and mindfulness releasing our energy into universal samadhi.

Picture at left is the Buddha with bodhisattvas taken at the Shaanxi History Museum in Xian in Shaanxi Province

The Buddha offers a path that goes beyond this endless orbit: a path to nirvana. This path to selflessness is guided by the following:

a) We are to avoid all evil: Evil has been clearly presented in the Dhammapada known as selfish thoughts and actions. (The Dhammapada is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best-known Buddhist scriptures) Sorrow will always follow these – they keep us locked in samsara’s orbit. Dhammapada means “the path of dharma,” the path of harmony and righteousness that anyone can follow to reach the highest good.

Picture to the left was taken in Chengdu at the Wuhou Memorial Temple

b) Cultivate the good: the good has been shown since the opening to be selfless thoughts and actions. We might readily think of this as being a martyr. However, a martyr is still caught in the game of “self”– sacrificing him or herself, sometimes for recognition, sometimes for self-gratification. The Buddha’s questioning of self is more radical. He questions the enduring entity of “I”, revealing that the self is a process that can be mastered, not a static entity. To be without self; those who realize this are freed from suffering. This is the path that leads to pure wisdom. And,

c) To purify your mind: This one follows from the other two. The task of the spiritual path is to master yourself–recognizing that you “are” an unfolding karmic set of conditions and acting in such a way that recognizes this impermanence, this ongoing flow: “states” without self. To put it simply, we can offer two verses from the opening chapter of the Dhammapada as guiding principles–lanterns lighting the path of purifying your mind: For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by love. This is an unalterable law.

  1. Our path requires us to have an appreciation for the effects of the Buddha’s view of suffering. We are to understand that without mindfulness we spread suffering as well. Learning what it means not to suffer, to be on the path – to move beyond suffering.
  2. We do need positive material conditions to contribute to our relative sense of well-being. That it is through the realization of selflessness that no one becomes afflicted. We can better understand this by looking at the relationship between mind and the sense of self and day-to-day life.

Picture to the right taken at the Sichuan Museum in Chengdu

  1. A key to understanding and practicing mindfulness is to look at how your belief in a self, determines almost every word coming from your mouth, every move you make, and every thought you think. Without mindfulness, you suffer, and you spread suffering.

We never seem too far removed from Taoism, and even Confucius, as we look to how they continuously shape our virtue over time. How, over thousands of years they shaped us, our thoughts, actions, and wisdom that was to ultimately define our role. It becomes the transition of one thing to another, from one generation to the next – from one mountaintop to another that becomes the elixir of eternity and us. What connects us all to the universe – the flow of wisdom that pervades everything. In honoring the bodhisattva, we must look also to the sage.

To the person seen by many in history as China’s greatest sage, Confucius.  With the following, you can see the connection. Confucius says, “Do you think I learn to increase my knowledge?”. Tzu-kung answered, “Well, don’t you?” Confucius said, “No, I seek one thing that ties everything together” (Lunyu: 15.2).

  1. Your mind, as you proceed in your daily life, is the key to your virtue and Dharma as you acknowledge that you are not your body. With this our mindfulness makes us authentic.
  2. We can then begin to visualize that both the Buddha, and the best elements of the bodhisattvas – in my case a special reference for Mañjuśrī – can begin to dissolve into us. Their attributes are to become our attributes as well. Mañjuśrī in Sanskrit means “He who is noble and gentle”. Much more on Mañjuśrī later.
  3. The key to learning and practicing mindfulness is to be without conceit. In the King of Meditation Sutra, the Buddha tells us that to meditate on the nature of selflessness is to rest in the state in which conceit is entirely absent, and that when we are not engaged in meditation that we are in a conceited state of mind.
  4. We need to find whatever it is that is not the state of conceit for that is the genuine mindfulness of the Buddha and is enlightenment. In this state of the absence of conceit, even the idea of selflessness is not present. This state is not a vacuum or a dark nothingness, whether it is the awakened state of the presence we hope to attain.
  5. Approaching this awakened state, we need to understand how the Buddhas, and bodhisattvas are inseparable from us. In Tibetan Buddhist practice, we can visualize how they dissolve into us. It is in this midst of goodness our intrinsic nature no longer becomes defined as self, but as who we are yet to become.

I am reminded again of the mandalas I saw at the Sera Monastery in Lhasa from the standpoint of creative visualization. As if in meditation, you are guided and sustained by the living power of the sound, as if an internal knowing, coming from within. Crystalizing into the universal order of the mandala as we are reminded again that it is often art, literature, and music that takes us there.

  1. We are to gain trust in the potency of our present qualities and understand where they come from. The path we travel is where we are to learn to follow our innate eternal compassion and goodness.
  2. The underpinnings of compassion grow from an intuitive sense of knowing, even selflessness. That there is nothing that separates us from all things in the cosmos, that we were all one and share the same nature.

The compendium of perfect Dharma reads:

“O Buddha, a Bodhisattva should not train in many practices. If a Bodhisattva properly holds to one Dharma and learns it perfectly, he has all the Buddha’s qualities in the palm of his hand, and if you ask what that one Dharma is, it is Great Compassion. (mahākaruṇā).”   

  1. We possess an intuitive sense of knowing that we are not independent selves and that we are connected to everything around us. With this, we know that violence and cruelty is wrong. This is in accordance with the Buddhist teachings.

The view from within the Arhat Buddhist Temple in Chongqing

  1. This is a central tenet of our spirit, requires little or no training and the nature of enlightenment. It is with this we began to gain and develop a quiet sincere mind.
  2. Dharma defines our essential qualities or character as if returning to the cosmos. It is here we gain the fundamental disposition that what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong. Adding that a moral compass appears when we see above both extremes to “it either is, or it isn’t” in accordance with Buddhist teaching.
  3. Dharma speaks through us as we act without sense of reward. We do good for the sake of doing good. Act without need for reward and know pure compassion.
  4. The most important thing to internalize in this teaching is that we have the capacity to improve because we are not a fixed entity. That there is always room for improvement.
  5. By focusing on compassion for all others, our compassion grows accordingly. By continuing to grow into a meditative practice, insight into selflessness will develop. When compassion and insight develop, samadhi overtakes you and thoughts of teaching this become real. Your ultimate role is yet defined.

As we are continually reminded that this samadhi is real and encompasses the highest form of compassion, mindfulness, and sincerity that we are to identify with, encompass, and become. The ah ha moment is coming when we can travel through time without the presence of ourselves.   

Chapter 3 Renouncing what does not define who we are meant to become as we move beyond zazen…

For many years prior to retirement, I was a city planner and what was called a neighborhood specialist in Florida. My focus was on neighborhood visioning and developing master plans to assist people in  prioritizing improvements and deciding what should come first. This always seems to be the biggest challenge. Finding the motivation to see beyond themselves to make a positive imprint on their neighbors and neighborhood. Recognizing past difficulties and understanding underlying contradictions that were inhibiting factors to improving their lives.

The key was always that they needed to take ownership and see beyond themselves and the boundaries of their properties in which they lived. Creating an environment of inclusiveness and joy. That they had a responsibility to the world beyond themselves. I liked my job because it allowed me to convey to others what should be done and help them find the path to do themselves that would include everyone, what we called stakeholders. To find a pace and dignity of transformation beyond just themselves to what someone once told me befitting the sacrament. To what I would say to become one with whatever one does as the true realization of the Tao. As we pay attention only to the present moment.

While open to debate over the centuries, the practice of engaging in zazen, i.e., sitting meditation, is essential for most people. However, some feel that it depends on where we are on the path to enlightenment. Some need the structure and discipline only zazen can provide. Others are beyond zazen. This is where the path of natural attainment leads us. It is like needing to know how to unlock the door and the door unlocks simply by our presence. Nothing else is needed.

Your presence is zazen… This realization generally comes after years of meditation, both sitting and actualized by who we have since become. You do not need to sit to arrive somewhere – because you have moved beyond the need as your presence illustrates. What you are here to do dictates the role the universe has laid out for you to play. It is a moving beyond the beyond thing of the Bodhisattva vow that is always in play. If you accede to the role of a teacher however, zazen reminds us of our origins, grounds us, and remains essential.

Over time, meditation and mindfulness have shown us the way as our actions simply reflect us. As well as the openness to change. That true joy is moments of internal peace, love and goodness, openness towards others, and to the world. That our well-being and happiness come from our state of mind. Phakchok Rinpoche’s “In the Footsteps of Bodhisattvas, Buddhist teachings on the essence of Meditation”, following the teachings of The King of Meditation Sutras, give us the structure to follow. References to seated meditation, what many refer to as zazen, are often referred to as the chapters unfold below. This series continues to follow the path of the Bodhisattva’s role in history and what we should consider as our own. Additionally, I am not an expert, simply someone opening doors to my own enfoldment and showing in as broad strokes as possible the way for others.

In many ways, Buddhism is the liberation from convention. It is like a renunciation from who we are not.  It is like Ram Dass who will be chronicled later in the series told us all those years ago,

“The person we are from nine to five is not who we are from five to nine”.

Moving to the freedom of expression as we express the flow of the cosmos that speaks through us that is essential to eternal awakening. Not only for ourselves, but to the awakening of all. With Zen it becomes moving from thought to action as we find our own footsteps. It’s like moving beyond reading a book, to becoming the book. The practical application of what the Bodhisattvas does when they do nothing but be themselves. When vision, mission, and purpose merge as you are transformed with a spiritual awakening and develop a master plan, a positive path for living within the spirit.

This is the power of the Buddhist sutras and teachings of Lao Tzu coming into action through us. Values through virtue as we emulate both the Buddha and the Tao by and through our actions as we are to become the continuation of the story.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – 3 Renunciation.

Key thought: Renouncing who we are not along with our resolve to practice samadhi – the ultimate meditation and mindfulness. What every shaman and holy man/woman has known and conveyed for the sake of eternity… to live in divine order simply through our eternal presence.

  1. To renounce is to give up something or put aside voluntarily, to repudiate or disown that which does not define our bliss and journey, and in gaining freedom.

Picture from the Jade Buddhist Temple in Shanghai

  1. With renunciation in our hearts, we go to a place of solitude. We open wide the door to bliss to a greater space to shape positivity and contentment. In solitude we have fewer distractions to practice the Dharma and to liberate ourselves. Finding the keys to this liberation should be our intention. We do this so that we may open wide the door to bliss to a greater arena to create benefits and positivity in the world.
  2. Chapter four of the Sutra tells us the nature of phenomena and how our re-birth comes about, as well as the benefits of nirvana. We are to continuously cultivate a loving mind; always keep pure discipline; take joy in training, exerting yourself, and to practice generosity and wisdom. To consistently discard unvirtuous friends while looking to spiritual masters is also important. With this you will have no difficulty in obtaining the samadhi.
  3. We are to understand and encompass the Foundational Vehicle of the early Buddhist traditions that emphasizes physical renunciation of worldly life. We are to by our nature have less attachment, with this we have a better chance of realizing the truth. If you have many things to do you cannot focus on the Dharma. It is a fact that wherever you direct your attention is where you gain success. Ultimate success comes with finding and carrying out the role we are here to play within this context.
  4. Whereas in the Great Vehicle, renunciation has to do with acknowledging that samsara is like a dream and the ultimate truth of emptiness. This is where we learn an understanding that ultimately you never die and are never born and that you would never find the actual essence of things even if you were to search for them for centuries.

As the name implies, the Mahayana came to think of itself as “great” both in its interpretations of the Buddha’s teaching and in its openness to more people, especially lay people. This was especially helpful in integrating into early China and a synthesis with Taoism that eventually led to Zen in Japan. The word yana means vehicle or raft, which evokes the image of Buddhist teaching as a raft or vehicle that can help one cross over the river of suffering to the “other shore.” The Mahayana is, thus, the “Great Vehicle.”

  1. With this, attachment to whatever we find in our worldly encounters becomes obsolete as there is nothing we are to be attached to. As we grow through study, reflection, and meditation, we encounter this ultimate truth directly.
  2. When we learn and can appreciate our role as bodhisattvas, we can leave behind karmic effects of our activities because we can take the ultimate view of who we are and understand the role we are here to play. This is due to positive and negative effects of both our previous actions and those of others.
  3. When we claim our freedom in keeping with The King of Meditation Sutra in the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, we are renouncing clinging to ourselves and to substantiality altogether to gain the liberation that allows us to benefit others. As we acknowledge that there is no separate, individual, or independent interest.

The power of Zen has always been freedom. Adapting the best attributes of Mahayana Buddhism, the  teachings of Lao Tzu, and Confucius, to develop a synthesis that seeks to find the best path to follow based on transformation of where we find ourselves. To internalize Zen, you must assimilate all three.

There is a calmness that the Dali Lama refers to in saying “Buddhist ideas can be helpful in equipping our minds and emotions so that we can maintain peace of mind when we are facing difficulty. Too many worries and too much ambition are bound to increase suspicion and jealousy, leading to even more mental disturbance.”   

  1. The important thing to understand is that non-attachment has nothing to do with withholding love from our families or abandoning our responsibilities to them. In the Mahayana teachings, practice focuses on inner conduct, our motivations. That on the Bodhisattva level, non-attachment has to do with the mind.
  2. Renunciation means abandoning those things which inhibit our freedom. In thinking about ultimate freedom, we discover that meditation is learning how to be present and aware of what is going on and to distinguish between our judgment about a moment in time and the actual experience.
  3. It is important that you keep in your thoughts and heart that you want to achieve awakening for the sake of all beings. This is the essential meaning of renunciation. The moment you recognize there is ultimately nothing to abandon is when you find genuine freedom and non-attachment.
  4. Chapter seventeen of The King of Meditation Sutra tells us that the Bodhisattva is to be untarnished by the eight worldly concerns, their body remaining pure and their actions immaculate. They have few desires, firm contentment, and no attachment. They possess the Buddha’s qualities. This refers to the qualities about a Bodhisattva, the great practitioners, who have advanced on the path of awakening.
  5. Success in the practice of samadhi (meditation and mindfulness) is intimately connected with our conduct. Proper conduct improves our ability to gain meditative insight. Conduct means the way we deal with the eight worldly concerns which are the desire for fame, praise, happiness, and material gain. Conversely, the wish to avoid insignificance, criticism, suffering, and loss. Reflecting on the Tao reminding us of the interconnection of study, practice, and experience.
  6. Our worldly concerns and feelings always relate to aversion, attachment, and ignorance. It is how we see past these eight worldly concerns and these three feelings that demonstrate our progress in abandoning desire.

I like to reference the book, The Snow Leopard, mentioned earlier with identifying with going up the  Himalayas years before modern life caught up with what was there. When it was still natural and pure ever-changing, but constant just the same. With no real destination as if a pilgrimage to no place important except what you see and find along the way and returning just the same… It was the oneness and purity of the snow glistening in the sun and becoming a part of it if only for a moment that made the trip worthwhile.

To the left… my view of the Himalayas from the window of the plane flying from Chengdu to Lhasa in October 2018. I looked up while reading The Snow Leopard again prior to arriving.

  1. It is through the spiritual world and our dedication to meditation we acknowledge that desire always brings pain. Monitoring and keeping a check on these feelings and desires we can internally follow our practice on several levels. These are the view level, the motivation level, the meditation level, the conduct level, and the fruition level. We practice samadhi by evaluating our renunciation by asking ourselves “How much of ego clinging still resides in my life?”
  2. Keeping check on the level of our practice is to observe the following:

1) View – If clinging to our ego still exists, or has not changed, then some aspect of our practice has not improved.

2) Motivation level – Looking inward to see what motivates our practice.

3) Meditation level – Adhering to samadhi, we look to how distraction and dullness is present during our meditation evaluating our ability to apply the cure, or antidote, to overcoming these difficulties.

4) Conduct level – We check the strength of our mindfulness by our actions that guard against the eight worldly concerns outlined above.

5) Fruition level – Do we have great hope to achieve realization, or fear of losing it.

It is proceeding to what will be the result within this aspiration that defines our genuine approach to fruition. When we ask ourselves as the result of the above, am I maintaining the state that is free from attachment? It is the ability to do this that determines the fate of our practice.

  1. What is to come of our ultimate aspiration? The paradox for many is that we cannot practice the path without detaching from the desire for fame and respect. Or if you subscribe to the notion of seeking praise or gain.
  2. It is here that we must acknowledge and observe our underlying motivations and contradictions as we seek to move forward with enabling our ultimate connection with the universe – to our highest aspirations. Our spirituality cannot become the tool by which we feed aversion and attachment. We monitor this by observing our own actions and emotions and our response to them.
  3. By not seeking praise and remaining in a sense of self-depreciation, we illustrate our keeping with the essence of our intended practice. Chapter 22 of the Sutra reminds us “Whoever does not have excessive attachment to this hollow life and limb has vanquished the host of maras and will reach awakening at the foot of the Bodhi tree. The body is empty and selfless, and life is a dream, tremulous as a drop of morning dew”.

The Bodhi Tree or Bodhi Fig Tree (“tree of awakening”) was a large and ancient sacred fig tree (Ficus religiosa) located in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher who became known as the Buddha, is said to have attained enlightenment or Bodhi circa 500 BCE under it. In religious iconography, the Bodhi Tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed.

The proper term “Bodhi Tree” is also applied to existing sacred fig (Ficus religiosa) trees, also known as bodhi trees. The foremost example of an existing tree is the Mahabodhi Tree growing at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, which is often cited as a direct descendant of the original tree. This tree, planted around 250 BCE, is a frequent destination for Buddhists. (description and photo from Wikipedia)

  1. It is important to rise above our thinking as our emotions display our ignorance. We are to work with our minds so that our habits are continually refreshed. When we reduce our thinking, habits have difficulty in gaining a foothold in our thoughts. It is here we learn simply being present is enough.
  2. When we focus on integrating renunciation, meditation, and compassion into our thoughts and actions leaving behind samsara, it is important that we have learned the true meaning of detachment. Buddhist teachings may be difficult to absorb into our daily lives, but that is precisely the point. The key has always been our ability to change to meet the challenges we face as our highest endeavor.
  3. It is when we recognize that every action has consequences and that every action that occurs in the present is a result of something that has occurred in the past, that we can understand karmic effect. We are not to try to diminish the laws of cause and effect, but to use them to affect the proper way we proceed with our lives.
  4. We are to learn the meaning of sharing in the merit of the Dharma by inviting others to practice generosity and connecting with virtuous activities, we can further discover through our own meditation and mindfulness living without discrimination.
  5. Learning the benefits of renunciation is a key ingredient to both our virtuous activities, practice, and getting to the meaning of things. That we are to reduce our desire and judgment, have correct discipline, and not engage in unnecessary debate. We do not praise ourselves or criticize others, we are to decrease our attachments, check our anger, and reduce our material concerns. With this, our presence will materially come to light for others not with our ego – but through our actions we shall show them.
  6. The Buddha’s teachings on renunciation is a form of self-compassion and how we are to become free.

Chapter 4A History may not repeat itself, but it vibrates with the stars as our virtue that continually defines us.

Every great story begins with a question you cannot yet answer, or better said know what the answer will be. Because the answer flows naturally with the story yet to be told. What is it that defines us except the way we live our story as we interact with others? Who are we really? If we are not ourselves, are we here? Secondly, is what we think of the meaning of illusion. We often hear in Buddhism that life is but an illusion. If we think in terms of what that means in the context of “what we think we know and take for granted”, that may not make much sense to us. Always to be underestimated from the outset, it has always been those who rise to the moment in service to something greater than themselves.

The Giant Leshan Buddha depicting Maitreya, was built at the convergence of two rivers south of Chengdu (the Min and Dadu River) to have the Buddha’s assistance in flooding that occurred every Spring.  

Locally it is known as “the mountain is a Buddha, and the Buddha is a mountain” and is next to the Wuyou Buddhist Temple and Taoist Cave that illustrate the connection between the I Ching, Lao Tzu, and the Buddha. I have been here many times.

There were two primary paths through ancient China to Xian and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and beyond. First, the southern route through Chengdu and by extension the Giant Buddha, and second over the Silk Route taking a caravan across the Himalayas to Xian and points east. To Huashan Mountain, the Longman Grottoes, and Luoyang and the White Horse Buddhist Temple – by tradition, the first Buddhist temple in China, then south to Songshan Mountain and the Shaolin Temple. Eventually to Qingdao and Mount Laoshan, the place where the Complete Perfection School of Taoism developed and the most important mountain in China north of Qufu, Tai’an Mountain. I have been to all of these (to Mount Tai’an more than a dozen times over the years) all-encompassing over twenty years of traveling in China. All depicting a flow of energy as if a travelogue mirroring eternity. What had been called and known in many ancient cultures as the “Stretching of the Cord” ritual to align the sacred monuments to the stars with ourselves.

Bixia Temple at the top of Mount Tai, aka the shrine of the Blue Dawn.

All the above are not listed in ego but denoting a constant flow that is always prevalent and present. The pictures tell the story as much as the narrative I might add. I generally always travel alone. Sometimes one of my students from my teaching days would join me. Helpful because I cannot speak or read Chinese… what a pity.  Always traveling with the caveat of catching up with where I left the last time. As if always on a pilgrimage, with no real destination only an outline of what remains unknown… that I am here to re-discover, acknowledge, and become.

The Immortal Dragon Lynx from the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu

Its why understanding the role of the sage and bodhisattvas is important that take us there. It was as if teaching in Qufu at Jining University and the Confucius School adjacent to the Confucius Temple and Kong Family Mansion (Confucius Mansion) was to “wake me up to my highest endeavor” once I knew I could return to USA. The greatest challenge is discipline and staying the course. Turning to the role of the sage and Bodhisattva… tells me I still have so much to learn and remember.

How can life be an illusion, if when I fall and hurt myself… my body and the hurt is not seen or felt as an illusion. Perhaps we have been looking at what is illusion in the wrong way? But then the question becomes, am I my body?” What is it that history teaches us and why is it so important?

The Upanishads are late Vedic Sanskrit texts of religious teaching and ideas still revered in Hinduism. They are the most recent part of the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, the Vedas, which deal with meditation, philosophy, and ontological knowledge; other parts of the Vedas deal with mantras, benedictions, rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices.

Among the most important literature in the history of Indian religions and culture, the Upanishads played a key role in the development of spiritual ideas in ancient India, marking a transition from Vedic ritualism to innovative ideas and institutions.

The book to the left “Breath of the Eternal, the Upanishads, The Wisdom of the Hindu Mystics” is the principal texts selected and translated from the original Sanskrit.

Upanishads means “sitting near devotedly”, which conjures images of the contemplating student listening with rapt attention to the teachings of a spiritual master.

These are widely considered to be philosophical and spiritual meditations of the highest order. Several years ago, when I lived in Boynton Beach, there was a Hindu Temple. I helped with their site plan for a new temple in the city when I was with the planning department. I was invited and attended several of their celebrations and learned a little about their religion. I was always extremely impressed.

Of all Vedic literature, the Upanishads alone are widely known, and their central ideas are at the spiritual core of Hinduism. The Upanishads describe the universe, and the human experience, as an interplay of Purusha (the eternal, unchanging principles, consciousness) and Prakrti (the temporary, changing material world, nature).[1] The former manifests itself as Atman (soul, self), and the latter as Maya. The Upanishads refer to the knowledge of Atman as “true knowledge” (Vidya), and the knowledge of Maya as “not true knowledge” (Avidya, Nescience, lack of awareness, lack of true knowledge).[2]

Hendrick Vroom explains, “the term Maya [in the Upanishads] has been translated as ‘illusion’, but then it does not concern normal illusion. Here ‘illusion’ does not mean that the world is not real and simply a figment of the human imagination. Maya means that the world is not as it seems; the world that one experiences is misleading as far as its true nature is concerned.”[3] According to Wendy Doniger, “to say that the universe is an illusion (māyā) is not to say that it is unreal; it is to say, instead, that it is not what it seems to be, that it is something constantly being made. Māyā not only deceives people about the things they think they know; more basically, it limits their knowledge.” [4]

1)Paul Deussen, The Philosophy of the Upanishads, p. 161, at Google Books, pages 161, 240-254

2)Ben-Ami Scharfstein (1998), A Comparative History of World Philosophy: From the Upanishads to Kant, State University of New York Press, page 376

3)H.M. Vroom (1996), No Other Gods, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, page 57

4)Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty (1986), Dreams, Illusion, and Other Realities, University of Chicago Press, page 119

Why discuss this now in a discussion about Zen Buddhism? It is a matter of opening doors to see things in a different way. Things that are perceived as a “given” that fit into our understanding may not be well understood in the context of what we think we know but may not. A symmetry we find married to cause and effect. Mind altering consciousness looking to our becoming our true authentic selves depends on it… and seeing beyond illusion. Also, Buddhism moved from India to China and elsewhere thousands of years ago as illustrated with the Leshan Giant Buddha above. To understand its beginnings, it is important to go where its roots are. A study of both Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism helps to do that.

Note… Chapter four discussing loving-kindness is getting too long. I had to split it in two. Chapter 4A includes numbers 1 through 12 and 4B contains 13 to 30. Currently, there are thirteen chapters in total planned for this discussion. That may change. The narrative in each chapter is divided into numbers to aide as discussion points and referencing.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – Buddhist Teachings on the essence of Meditation

4A Loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

Key thought: My friends the dragons tell me that I must come to know and practice these four attributes to truly become a sage. Universal love must become the source of our joy as the compilation of who we have always been and will be again.

  1. Coming to terms… First understanding the meaning of what defines our own authenticity by becoming equal-minded through meditation. It is by practicing loving kindness we begin our own daily activities and practice.

In Taoist history, the tales of Taoist sages counted their age in terms of epochs, not years, and would add a counting stick to a pile to mark each epoch of man. Heaven represents a Taoist paradise, while cranes represent longevity.

(Crane depicted on left is from the Confucius Temple in Qufu. I taught at a school adjacent to the Confucius Temple a few years ago. Picture of crane on right is from the Qingyang Taoist Temple in Chengdu).

  1. Remain within pure compassion, and forever equal-minded toward enjoyments and the whole of existence. By cultivating samadhi through meditation and mindfulness, we will attain awakening. (from Chapter 9 of The King of Meditation Sutra).
  2. We begin by planting the seed of loving kindness and compassion in our hearts. We then begin to develop the four immeasurables of loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. As we cultivate these, we begin to see where there is more work to be done.
  3. It is when we take on these qualities as we embrace emptiness, we enter the Great Vehicle of that characterized by aspirational bodhicitta (the aspiring to compassion, or the wishing for compassionate activity), as relayed earlier, that returns us to our original virtue. With this we can begin to cultivate and emulate loving-kindness and become spiritual guides for all beings. In some schools of Buddhism there are two levels of bodhicitta: aspirational and engaged. In aspirational bodhicitta, the individual desires to overcome spiritual and emotional afflictions to realize the truest Self and help others do the same.
  4. It is when we expand our presence as loving-kindness into the experiences of those around us our compassion grows. We feel the joy and suffering of others, and we are moved to help them. As our compassion grows, our equanimity becomes rooted in pure intention. As a result, what was considered as either distant or close no longer becomes relative.
  5. With this we can transform hate into blossoms of Spring, move beyond human frailties, reside in loving-kindness, and release all anger. Our universal love for what surrounds us grows exponentially as we expand into the lives of those around us.
  6. Because our nature is endowed with love, we do not need to be afraid that we lack the capacity to feel love, thereby reducing selfish behavior and motivation. Any sense of reward for the love we cultivate must be abandoned. Love for the sake of love must be our joy.
  7. A sense of impermanence with no agenda or reward should be present. Even in our meditation practice, we proceed without ego, self, or reward. Moving to selflessness and emptiness is key to our awakening and bliss moving all to reducing suffering.
  8. The Buddha’s teachings convey that we are not to get lost in or attached to what can be called illusory projections. How suffering occurs when our thoughts and expectations are nothing but illusions. Every person falls into their own projections, and because of this all people suffer.
  9. By acknowledging the delusions of the mind’s projections, our having compassion due to differences with others becomes tied to judgment. Thereby making projecting not a reliable basis for developing a caring attitude.

What I especially liked in studying the Upanishads described above, is that it brings out the essence of the Hindu philosophy in the sense that it states that the core of our own self is neither the body nor the mind, but the “Atman” or the “Self.” To many the Atman refers to the pervading principle, the organism in which other elements are united and the ultimate sentient principle. It further points out that the core of all creatures is the Atman itself, and it can be experienced through meditation. When we experience the Atman, we come to the deepest level of our existence. There are many similarities between Mahayana Buddhism and the Upanishads of the Hindu. With Hindu, the “Brahman” is the underlying substance of the Universe. It is the unchanging “Absolute Being.” It is the intangible essence of the whole existence that creates and sustains everything. The Brahman is beyond all description and intellectual understanding. When a person attains moksha or liberation, the Atman returns to Brahman, like a drop of water returns to the ocean… and the ultimate Tao.

What this means to me is understanding the convergence of philosophy and religion. To appreciate one, you must appreciate how over time the flow of divine energy manifests in many directions. Like spokes in a wheel, I sensed this most directly in my visit to Lhasa, Tibet. To understand Zen, for myself, means gaining an appreciation for its beginnings and what becomes of us. To what lies beyond the sage and Bodhisattva. My visit to Lhasa is having a long-term impact on both my thinking and understanding how pieces are to fit together.

Picture from the Drepung Monastery in Lhasa

  1. When we watch the patterns of our own ego, it becomes easier to understand how the critical thoughts of others cause them to suffer. Compassion for others must be without self-interest.
  2. We practice and generate compassion for others because it is the right thing to do. We cultivate this through our actions with kindness and do this in what is called compassion with agenda as we make note of our own behavior.

For many over the centuries, the ultimate Zen has been to abide in the bliss of knowing yourself. In contemplating the meaning of “compassion with agenda” this is where I begin. In Alan Watts, The Way of Zen, when discussing the Lankavatara Sutra favored by Bodhidharma, who was considered as the legendary founder of Zen in China, he conveys the tradition of the Short Path favored by Tibetan Buddhists considered as the short ascent to nirvana. Ideals of immediacy and naturalness of the sage and spontaneity come to mind as found with wu wei, Taoism, and Lao Tzu. (page 79)

Numbers 13 to 30 will follow in the next entry as 4B in Loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

Chapter 4B Aspiring first to equanimity, to the wu wei of Chuang Tzu’s pivot, and the merit of the bodhisattvas and sage as symmetry fit for the ages.

It begins with questioning the norms of what we take for granted with our limited knowledge of what is real or not and understanding the true meaning of equanimity and what it means to freedom, mindfulness, and meditation. We refer to what we have referred to as what the Buddhists refer to as samadhi. To places our essence wants to lead or take us to, to becoming a Bodhisattva or sage.

If you look up synonyms of the word equanimity, you see the likes of calmness, composure, detachment, serenity, and tranquility. If you look further and try to define, you see… mental or emotional stability or composure, especially under tension or strain; calmness; equilibrium. We begin by seeking balance, historically by centering ourselves with the movements of tai chi. What is known as divine order, i.e., aligning ourselves with what we have always known and the stars.

Our purpose is connecting again to the stillness of an eternal flow. Not only with what we do, but with who we are as we look to mindfulness and the above as our guide.

Someone whose books and writings have helped us to cross-over from Western to Eastern thought and back, was catholic priest Thomas Merton. He was an amazing author of many books whose influence has been immeasurable in helping us to see beyond ourselves and what we think we know that defines us. Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

He traveled extensively while meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders of Catholicism he had followed for many years. He would be a great teacher for Alan Watts and Ram Dass, who would not hesitate to take the next step to greater understanding we all could then follow.

More than twenty years ago now, there was no one who opened the door that influenced me more with thoughts of freedom to travel the universe than Chuang Tzu. Thomas Merton’s book was like the glide path, a beacon to awakening, that would say yes you can go home again. There are so many thoughts that serve to compliment how we are to live with ideas of wu wei that make all things unconditioned that are to remain in perfect harmony with the whole. Reflect on this for a moment – for a lifetime. Our actions are to be effortless and spontaneous because they are done “rightly” in perfect accordance with our nature and with our place in the scheme of things. That all things must have an equal opportunity at life’s enfoldment. This is the bliss that Joseph Campbell was referring to.

This is the true definition of wu wei… not inaction, but “perfect action” and one’s cosmic humility as a man or woman who realizes their own nothingness who becomes forgetful of themselves. Chuang refers to seeing all things in the light of “direct intuition and our making a pivot”. Chuang Tzu’s “pivot” and ideals expressed as the “perfected man” were to become a central core to incorporating the essence of Tao and Zen as a way of life.

You cannot underestimate the influence and flow from Lao and Chuang Tzu and the Vedas of Hinduism, to what was to become of Taoism, and what was to lead to this “direct intuition” of Chan and later Mahayana Buddhism described below that moved into Western philosophy and what was to influence Emerson’s thoughts on Nature and what would become transcendentalism and Zen as we would come to understand and know.

Something that appears in Emerson’s essay entitled “The Over-soul” is expressed as:

“We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal ONE. And this deep power in which we exist and whose beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject, and the object, are one. We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are shining parts, is the soul”.

The central message Emerson drew from his Asian studies was that “the purpose of life was spiritual transformation and direct experience of divine power, here and now on earth.”

When I said in an earlier entry the idea of “moving beyond zazen” this is what I was referring to. Becoming at ease and one with the rhythms of eternal flow and having no fear of where it leads. When we do meditation, it is connected with the never-ending stream of consciousness that already exists within us. To the One Emerson is referring too. When we talk about “being present”, it means that there is no place to go because you are already here. Willingness to remain fearless and taking the next step conveying how death is only the continuum. To what brings our life its ultimate joy. Living simply becomes the extension of who we have always been. This is the freedom expressed by Emerson and Chuang Tzu. If you want to get an introduction to life’s meaning, I could not recommend studying both Merton’s book more strongly.   

For the Taoist, it always begins with cause and effect, adhering to “complimentary opposites”, the I Ching, and the fallacy of seeing things only as right and wrong as Chuang explains so well below. One of my great friends and teachers over time has been Chuang Tzu and his thoughts on “the perfected man”. Chuang Tzu was a transitional figure in Chinese history who lived in about 300BC, considered by some as the father of what was to become “Chan Buddhism”. What would come of taking the next step that would later become the benchmark for Zen.

He saw through the abstract nature of Lao Tzu to how to in more practical terms make it all come together – seeing beyond what may appear as obvious. Often questioning and laughing at man’s attempts at seeing beyond ourselves and ego. It was Chuang Tzu’s belief that death was nothing more than a continuation of spirit that moved us to another realm of understanding that served as a major part of his enduring legacy, especially with what was to become Chan and later Zen Buddhism. So much of the flow we create is for the purpose of adding to what already exists, as if once we understand our greatest endeavor, we can do nothing but do our best to follow it.

Something I wrote more than twenty-five years ago that appears here on my website in an unpublished manuscript entitled “My travels with Lieh Tzu” describes Chuang Tzu’s argument well…

Chuang Tzu’s Argument

Who can think things out in analytical terms, and why should they when there can be no judgment. No determination as to what can be right or wrong in our thoughts, actions, or deeds. If alternatives are non‑existent to time and space, what could be the difference? If as the Tao says, nothing is either noble or base (good or bad) and all things say they are noble and another base, then where is judgment?

As conventional wisdom or what may be considered common sense expands, then neither good or bad can stand alone and cannot depend upon themselves. If you try to judge by degree or get the upper hand then arguing from one position or the other can lead only to seeing one place in relation to another. If judgments are rendered from a position where something is big in relation to smaller things, then all things become big. If you argue that they are small, then all things become small. If you can argue that heaven and earth may be treated as a tiny grain of sand, then all things remain perfect and be such.

If you make judgments based on the function of something, then if you judge them from those which they have then all things have them. If you judge them from what they lack, then all things lack them. If you know that east and west are opposites, yet cannot do without each other, then is not thier functions predetermined?

Faces of terra cotta warriors in Xian

What can all this mean? Can any judgment be made by what is considered rational? Who can know? Who can say?

Just as in arguing tastes. If you argue that to people who consider them to be good, then all things are good. If you argue for those who disapprove or disagree and say they are bad, then they must be bad. If you know of two people who believe the opposite has occurred, one believes he is right and the other wrong, standards of taste will be seen in proportion.

In the end if all things remain equal, or in balance as such, then who can there be to judge right and wrong? And can right and wrong truly exist?      4/14/95

Note… Chapter four discussing loving-kindness was getting too long. I had to split it in two. Chapter 4A including numbers 1 through 12 was in the previous entry and 4B containing 13 to 30 is below. Currently, there are thirteen chapters in total planned for this discussion. That may change. The narrative in each chapter is divided into numbers to aide as discussion points and referencing. It is a lot, but you can keep coming back for more.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – Buddhist Teachings on the essence of Meditation

4B Loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

Key thought: My friends the dragons tell me that I must come to know and practice these four attributes to truly become a sage. Chuang Tzu would laugh at human frailty and such attempts at freedom as universal love becomes the source of our eternal joy.

  1. As we acknowledge our behavior, we should recognize our own patterns of self-centeredness in learning the first step needed for developing compassion, asking ourselves – what is the key to compassion and what is it we need to improve as we move to non-judgment?
  2. It begins when the ego no longer exists. What the Buddha refers to in The King of Meditation Sutra when he says “Therefore, you teach them emptiness, profundity (sagaciousness), peace, and nonconceptuality.” The profound equality of all beings is when the “I or ego” no longer exists. This compassion that cannot be separated from emptiness is the ultimate samadhi.
  3. We are to develop compassion while enhancing our realization of emptiness. Chapter 13 of the Sutra talks about being in line with samadhi. Proceeding without a reference point, without mental engagement, the extinction of perception, to be without afflictive emotions, to be without the need for elaborations, along with the ultimate training of bodhisattvas within the domain of the tathagatas. The perfection of these qualities is seen as the clear demonstration of the true meaning of samadhi.

Stone carvings from the Jiming Buddhist Temple near where you can enter the top of the Nanjing City Wall.

  1. Bodhisattvas are clear minded, i.e., their minds are not confused. They exhibit great compassion and help others in many ways. The highest compassion is non conceptual and is indivisible from the highest insight.
  2. Our presence should be guided by focusing our meditation and daily activities on both compassion and emptiness. Combining compassionate aspiration with meditation free from self-interest and ego is crucial to finding joy and realization.

18, Compassion is your mirror and exhibiting dignity indicates you have realized your innate nature. Do not confine yourself to a self-centered agenda, acting only with awareness and love. Dignified compassion comes from recognizing the intrinsic goodness of every being. All to be treated equally, fairly, with awareness, and love.

  1. We are to know compassion without duality – not demonizing some and glorifying others. Our compassion for others is to be universal, beyond empathy to include all beings free from clinging to our own experiences. Compassion means wishing all beings to be free from suffering and the cause of suffering. This aspiration of compassion becomes us as meditation relays our intent and our voice.
  2. We begin by seeing the positive in all things and living within the confines of the goodness of our own awakening and nature. Finding joy in the merit and nature of others as we acknowledge suffering and how to alleviate suffering by teaching compassion.
  3. We are meant to be free to be an expression of eternal joy and to rejoice in the goodness of others. The Buddha tells us that when we take joy in the actions of those working towards awakening, we move more rapidly along the path as well.
  4. To practice rejoicing we must see all sentient beings as our loved ones. With emptiness as our starting point and as our experience, negativity cannot gain a foothold on our thoughts and actions. We are to focus on our own intuitive positive qualities and simply build on them.

Dragon stone carving at the entrance of the Wenshu (Mañjuśrī) Buddhist Monastery in Chengdu

  1. We change our mindset when we have a problem by speaking to ourselves with a knowing small smile. Focusing only on ourselves diminishes us from appreciating the success of others. When we are happy for the success of others, we can become happy for our own happiness as well. We should not be too self-focused.
  2. It is often said that the best way to persuade is by listening with your ears often to what is not said in silence. The root of virtue is the mind free from the three poisons of aversion, attachment, and ignorance. While the root of merit is the practice of the six perfections, or what is known in Sanskrit as paramitas. They constitute what is known when engaged in bodhicitta – as the mind of compassion.
  3. These six paramitas are known as generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, and meditation. These five are considered as the source of merit. When these are embraced by the sixth – transcendent wisdom, they become true paramitas, or perfections. A virtuous mind that practices paramitas is filled with supreme joy… This is the mind of the Bodhisattva.

Chuang Tzu’s teachings many times were paradoxical saying that you never find happiness until you stop looking for it. He was saying that happiness can be found only by not seeking it and through non-action. In Tao everything is found everywhere. It is acting with freedom from care, that all action is “perfect joy because without joy one cannot be happy in anything.” We come to find perfect harmony with the whole as action that is both effortless and spontaneous. (page 28 The Way of Chuang Tzu) To what would be referred to as having a virtuous mind and developing merit. Why is merit so important… as we come forward to look to patterns and symbols that show us the way.

  1. Inspiration and support from the minds of Bodhisattva creates a virtuous environment and impact on our lives and the lives around us. We are to rejoice in the confidence of others who like us, have confidence in the Buddha, Lao Tzu, and other spiritual teachings. This enhances our own relationship with the Dharma (our essential nature that connects us to the cosmos) and increases merit.

Picture from the Shanghai Museum

  1. To dedicate your merit to the awakening of all beings is the ultimate act of joy as we are to regard all beings equally, without anger or partiality. This sense of equanimity is what ultimately carries us forward with a caring, loving mind. This equanimity can be separated into three levels:

1) The first level of equanimity can be when we see all sentient beings with an equal amount of love.  Buddhists understand we have many lifetimes of connection with every being. We nurture this understanding to the point that it arises and our experience, and eventually we can walk in the world with it.    

2) The second level of equanimity relates to our nature. We see that all beings share the same essence – the essence of the Buddha. That is, we recall that we all have Buddha nature.

3) The final equanimity is to be free from both concepts of equality and unequal. Such freedom brings supreme flexibility. When this happens, we have no clinging to ideas, we have no judgment. 

  1. The essence of equanimity is to be incapable of clinging to anything. This brings love and understanding, and it is from this place our compassion becomes vast as space as we engage in the art of becoming our true selves.
  2. What can be the goal of our true aspirations except as expressed as follows:

1) May all beings have happiness and the cause of happiness; 2) May they be free from suffering and the cause of suffering; 3) May they never be separate from the supreme happiness devoid of suffering; and 4) May they remain in boundless equanimity beyond attachment and aversion to those near and far.

  1. We should nurture the understanding that throughout infinite lifetimes of connection, all beings have been our mothers. With a love that extends to everyone equally, recall that we all have Buddha nature. Again, and again, we call out that everyone has Buddha-nature. When this recollection becomes strong, direct, and authentic, concept free equanimity will unfold.

Chapter 5 Gaining spiritual confidence – Connecting with the universal flow of divine energy and what or who takes us there as our karmic residue of virtue…

What is it with the flow of universal thought and energy that has come before us? In our meditation and lives, it is as if it remains ever-present both with and as us. Perhaps unseen and seemingly unknown, but with us just the same. Guiding us, while we give others a taste or view of the present. Re-defining our role in the moment as if they are here pushing us to enter and stay with what is to become of our highest endeavor and destiny.

While we ask who are they… and ultimately who are we yet to become? Once we catch glimpses of past reflections and the legacy we are here to follow, our path is made clear as if looking through a glass door or window. Looking both inward to what we are here to make of ourselves, and outward to the flow that carries us with talents we may not yet perceive we have been sent to use on the cosmos behalf. Who is there to say otherwise?

We are often told that in prayer we are to listen to the still small voice within. Whose voice are we listening to but our own divinity that is here to guide and define us? One of my most favorite authors is Leo Tolstoy. While he was the author of two books that made him famous, War and Peace and Anna Karenina, he had an immense hunger for knowledge of where things begin. He read and studied extensively about philosophy – both Eastern and Western, and as a linguist, a student of language, he learned that many of the translations of biblical texts for the previous four to five hundred years were not in keeping with the original intent of what the meaning was meant to portray. It made him wonder who and what these translators were listening to in monasteries throughout Europe that was to define early Christianity and what would become the building block that followed. Who is it that defines the divinity we are to follow? What could be but illusion if based solely on self-interest and what is to be made of this karmic flow our spirit becomes attached to?

Tolstoy’s writings changed history. He had read Emerson and man’s ultimate role from his lectures and studied Buddhism, Hinduism, and Lao Tzu. His pacifism on following the path of non-violence was instrumental in guiding Gandhi in India, and later MLK and “good trouble” that was to be defined into the 21st century by the likes of John Lewis. He not only captured the universal flow of divine energy and purpose but defined it in such a way that others could follow. Always with more questions than answers as if handing off to others who might better express what needs to be said.

It is this flow that brings us back to Phakchok Rinpoche’s “In the Footsteps of Bodhisattvas, Buddhist teachings on the essence of Meditation”, following the teachings of The King of Meditation Sutras, that give us the structure to follow.

References to seated meditation and our own presence, what many refer to as zazen, are often referred to as the chapters unfold below. This series continues to follow the path of the Bodhisattva’s role in history and what we should consider as our own. Why this returning continually to the role of the Bodhisattva? Because just as with the wisdom of the sage in Eastern thought and universal philosophy espoused by the likes of Tolstoy, there is no separation as it is representative of the same source of creation.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – 5 Gaining spiritual confidence / As we recall our eternal legacy.

Key thought: Connecting with our spiritual mentors. Living or staying within the material, or mundane world, does not suit our ultimate purpose. If our mindfulness is not continuous; we are not building good samadhi [concentration]. It is momentum that improves and makes whatever we do easier; it allows us to grow.

  1. You gain spiritual support by relying on the realization of those who came before you. Of what they knew and what you now know going forward. The Taoists, Lao, Chuang and Lieh, and Buddhist Maitreya and so many more like Tolstoy above, who you have known and followed as prevailing destiny and history over the millennia. Meditation nothing more than following the spiritual confidence you have always known.
  2. Who are our mentors we choose to follow once they awakened us to the task at hand. With focus now on practice and reminders of the proper way so that we and others may follow. Why the Buddhist wherewithal towards prostration, circumambulation, and supplication (petition or prayer) to connect to the Buddha again as if the first time that blesses the earth once more becomes essential.
  3. History not only repeating itself but rhyming as if reminding us of the ultimate role we are here to play. Not just the explainer, but to first internalize the wisdom again. Reminded again that prostration is an ancient way of demonstrating respect in and for ancient cultures and traditions. Circumambulation a word seldom heard, but representing the Buddha’s body, speech, and mind dating back to the time of the Buddha himself.
  4. With Maitreya and Chuang Tzu – with his ideas of the role of the “Perfected Man”, seemingly the key to coming forward putting things in context understanding the Buddha’s intent that would become Chan and later Zen. Perhaps with our role to see the world through their eyes connecting with the wisdom of eternity.

Just as Maitreya saw the world through the eyes of Buddha thereby giving us the same opportunity. One of your mentors you have chosen to follow with Chuang Tzu the benchmark that connects everything together. It’s not enough to simply be the conveyor of the story, our role must become much greater.  

To the left is an ancient Taoist Chinese talisman invoking one’s mentors through the ages to come forward to assist you in your endeavors. On rare occasions Taoist Fu writings have also been found on Buddhist numismatic amulets as well.

  1. You proceed as if they are here with you guiding your path. Maybe just to visualize and for metaphors and similes for the purpose of speaking and writing in a certain way as the doorway showing appreciation and expression. Awakening unquestioned with eternal blessings assured… with thoughts of the power of the Buddha’s samadhi and Maitreya’s training and receptiveness to change always assured.
  2. With Lao and Chuang Tzu never far behind adding context to the journey for what would one day be called Zen. People of the mundane world do not comprehend the way of the sage. Ordinary human beings who do not follow the Tao are all like this. Those who awoke to the Tao in ancient times, adepts with rare fluency, were extraordinarily different. However, people of the mundane world are attached to what they see, making distinctions between high and low. (page 190 of The Way of Complete Perfection).
  3. Spiritual practice works best when your mentors are present and here with you. For myself, often in meditation or visualization, this involves going to join them as well, or them joining me. Freeing ourselves from earthly restraints… moving beyond samsara to the enlightenment we have often glimpsed but failed to realize as a reminder of our ultimate purpose.
  4. It is with this spiritual support we acknowledge that what we encounter is small stuff. That we are to cultivate the certainty found with Shakyamuni Buddha, Lao Tzu, and others. That just as with any obstacles we find, they would simply smile and move on. It is in unveiling and connecting with this wisdom – with what we have always known as the constancy of our own innate demeanor that should guide us.
  5. By remaining present we are to gain confidence in knowing that we are the manifestation of all those who have come before us. This is not a singular thing, but the journey we all take. It is as if the universe is calling us to seek our highest endeavor. The more we reduce ego the higher our ultimate aspirations can propel or take us. Recalling that it is our presence that defines our future and living up to our legacy in joy with outcomes secured.

Tolstoy referred to here in the beginning was struck by the description of Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu ascetic renunciation as being the path to holiness. Thus writing… Buddha Shakyamuni was born a prince, but voluntarily took to the mendicant’s staff; and Francis of Assisi, the founder of the mendicant orders who, as a youngster at a ball, where the daughters of all the notabilities were sitting together, was asked: “Now Francis, will you not soon make your choice from these beauties?” and who replied: “I have made a far more beautiful choice!” “Whom?” “La povertà (poverty)”: whereupon he abandoned everything shortly afterwards and wandered through the land as a mendicant. (Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. II, § 170) A mendicant is a member of any of several orders of friars that originally forbade ownership of property, subsisting mostly on alms.

  1. It is in entering the natural flow of meditation that we gain a sense of openness and peace, of presence, and goodness. With this we learn not to run away from difficulties but how we are to overcome them instead. Meditation practice should be how we live that one just flows into naturally – this is known as receiving blessings. With practice becoming our continuing presence.
  2. We carry these blessings everywhere we go. We align our thoughts and mind with those we follow who were/are our teachers, thereby gaining realization of our identity. By recalling them, we reflect on their qualities that we impress on our own minds. Just as we recollect time spent with loved ones who are now deceased.

In Xian at the Home of the Eight Great Immortals in Taoist Chinese History. Much more on the significance of the Eight Immortals in later entries. As myths and legends, they portray our highest aspirations as examples of Taoist ideals and what connects us in the simplest terms to both heaven and earth.

The same feeling that I encounter traveling throughout China to various Buddhist and Taoist Temples and Confucian historic sites where simply my presence honoring those who came before me is blessing not only me, but those who might see themselves through my writing.

  1. The same with Lao and Chuang Tzu as their words seem always to be with me. Chapter 8 of the Tao Te Ching reminds us, “The highest goodness is like water. Water is good at benefiting the ten thousand things because it has no need to compete with them. It resides in places where people avoid. Therefore, it is close to the Tao”.
  2. Something similar occurs when we visualize awakening with the wisdom of the Buddha always present. We see meditation as moving beyond the mind to freedom and bliss to confidence as we move through spirit. As with Zen, we learn that if you long for perfect living and practice that equates with what comes naturally, we cultivate discernment by accumulating merit, i.e., virtue by alleviating poverty and relieving suffering by the example we set for others.
  3. What is important is we see a coalescing of the heart/mind described in Tao, with practice that moves beyond the mind as we continue to walk the path. Buddhism sometimes sees the need to effectively block or undermine the mind, while Lao Tzu lets the mind wander the Tao with virtue.
  4. Softening the edges of the mind and making it malleable seems to be the key. When we ask in practice for help in quieting our mind through solitude, supplication, and prayer in meditation, we are asking for the intervention of wisdom beyond the current state of our mind.
  5. We should not practice forgiveness; we should simply forget and move on. Without needlessly worrying ourselves because we have already released the wrong. Forgetting is much more important than forgiving as attachment to the past often remains.
  6. We are not to hold onto or remain attached to wrongs of the past. A major aspect of growth centers on our ability to not internalize the sense of being a victim giving rise to the experience of total purity as our actions, speech, and mentality begin to reflect going forward not looking back.
  7. You cannot release something by holding on to it. We receive blessings by letting go of thoughts that act as anchors keeping us from spiritual awakening. By admitting wrongs and releasing ego we become open to what the universe has planned for us. As if a test simply waiting to be passed. It is here that most all blessings flow.
  8. Your smile and attitude convey the eternal connection with the universe you have always possessed. Use it! Replace anger with a smile and knowing enthusiasm. Strive only to become one with the light of eternal wisdom as your birthright. Purify all negative karma and experience this through our practice as our actions, speech, and mentality reflect the radiance of gratitude, love, and vision for all sentient beings.
  9. We can see this with an observation of how the Taoist translates Buddhist intention or insight on meditation expressed as five kinds of vision in line with our ultimate aspiration:

1)The vision of those who possess a material body (human),

2) The vision of wisdom by which celestial beings in the world of form (deva),

 3) The vision of wisdom by which Theravada adherents observe the thoughts of impermanence or emptiness (Theravada),

4) The vision of dharma by which bodhisattvas perceive all teachings to lead all beings on enlightenment (Mahayana), and

5) Buddha vision or omniscience (having a sense of the infinite). (page 187 of the Way of Complete Perfection)

  1. Like Maitreya, we should ask the Buddha to bless our minds and place of practice as we continue to follow in the footsteps of bodhisattvas before us as relayed in The King of Meditation Sutra and elsewhere. We should acknowledge our mentors continued presence in our endeavors as we in turn develop spiritual awareness and confidence.
  2. It is how we develop spiritual confidence that is important. We begin by purifying all negative karma that has accumulated over time. Chapter 4 of the Sutra reminds us that we must believe we are being blessed to receive blessings. This means recognizing that the Buddha is the embodiment of immeasurable wisdom through the process of the Bodhisattva as you live by and through this vow.
  3. Keeping our mind in the present is key to gaining confidence with both loving-kindness and compassion as an awakened mind is essential. Keeping this confidence “close to the vest”, so to speak, gives us the sense of love and wisdom coming from our peers.
  4. This is not to create a sense of judgment or that somehow, we are better than others. It is how we are to replicate the vow of the Bodhisattva that empowers us to proceed. It is how we train in both the spiritual and technical. What I can do and practice every day applying aspects of the path, that we practice both the dharma and way of the sage.
  5. The key to longevity is attaining blessings and merit, and retaining spiritual confidence in the dharma, as our eternal journey continues acknowledging that the wisdom of our mentors is ever-present. I continually receive many blessings as the Buddha, and Lao, Chuang, Lieh Tzu, and other mentors throughout time, are always present. I am never alone. As I continue to receive their blessings and transform into the dharma, the Bodhisattva and knowing sage, my writing is emblematic of what they would be saying at this moment and do so through me. With this, I proceed…

Chapter 6A We always seem to be waiting for patience, creativity, and even divergent thinking to arrive. When it is something we have always had or known as blessings, but simply paid little attention to or forgotten.

Buddhism and Zen are at first to many like a foreign language. To a sense of suddenly understanding everything as if you feel, or have, a sense of harmony or unity with the universe. To the place where consciousness becomes synonymous with the infinite. Going there can only be a matter of faith where death becomes nonexistent, to a purpose in life as a continuum we have not seen or known before. My own belief is that there is a part of us simply waiting for patience to arrive to go there. Beyond any thought of what may be considered spiritual. We think of spirituality involving a search for something greater than ourselves as if shared vibrations, for meaning and purpose in the universe. The same as the ancient shaman bringing forth the wisdom of the ages and cosmos to light the way for themselves and others. With our role to put this genius into our lives.

The Double helix is the description of the structure of a DNA molecule. A DNA molecule consists of two strands that wind around each other like a twisted ladder. Each strand has a backbone made of alternating groups of sugar (deoxyribose) and phosphate groups. Perhaps simply illustrating the commonality and genius we share and already possess that nature continuously builds upon.

I like looking at history, especially in China because of more than four thousand years observing the universe, i.e., the stars above have brought a continuity of what is cause and effect and nature’s response always looking forward to it all. Like trying to see things in a different way, perhaps in a new light. To what the Tao teaches us. To ideas of creativity and even divergent thinking. Seeing old ways of thinking and the importance of reconciling complementary opposites as the key to longevity. Perhaps that is why we are here. To see how things have converged over time and shaping them again in a new way. Coming up with the correct answer to problems that have only one answer. To see how the same thing can be seen, and people can reach far different conclusions. Maybe this is the ultimate in Zen: that divergent thinking has always been the essence of creativity.

One might argue that some of humanity’s most creative achievements have been the result of convergent thinking, even Newton’s recognition of the physical formula underlying gravity, and Einstein’s recognition that E=mc2.

Albert Einstein, for one, went to his grave convinced that the theory had to be just a steppingstone to a more complete description of nature, one espoused many years earlier by Emerson. That everything is a part of and connected to something else and is never-ending. One that would do away with the disturbing quirks of the quantum as the deterministic reality that obeys the laws of relativity. In effect, what he is saying is that all life, and all things, are a continuum from one thing to the next. Understanding that flow of energy was his life’s work. He was – and continues to be – a great teacher. When we say that someone will be missed when they die, we forget the essence of all things because they will always be with us when we look for them.

It is the essential, albeit eternal quest of seeing beyond ourselves, both to the past that defines a starting point as if re-entering the flow, and steps leading to an outcome that takes us there as well.

Something that caught my attention on a signpost at the Lama Buddhist Temple in Beijing was a description of what is known as trantric Buddhism and what is called “the eight protectors”. These come from the combinations of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. Twelve Nidanas (Nidanas are based upon the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Nidanas are the primary causes which when set in motion by an individual result in the ongoing continuity of the cycle of birth, death, and re-birth according to the Laws of Karma), Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Emptiness that generate the twelve Chinese zodiac signs with the blessings of eight Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

For thousands of years, the eight protectors have been worshiped to make people lead a fortunate, healthy, secure, and happy life. On the Sunday morning I was here, there were hundreds of people burning incense, giving personal offerings, and paying homage to this ideal and doing their best to embody this common flow of energy.

For myself, this divergent thinking and creativity almost passion, always points to China. As in past years when trips to China began with what would be a sense of sacred journey, visits to the National Museum, White Cloud Taoist Temple, and Lama Buddhist Temple in Peking (Beijing) always first on the list as if getting my mind focused again this time. Buddhist temples and museums in Lhasa, Chengdu, Xian, Luoyang, Nanjing, Chongqing, Shanghai and so many more, going there, giving me a sense of both permanence and impermanence. As if a constant sense of belonging, but not staying or standing still just the same. The journey becoming easier when you know who you are with the destination not seemingly as important as remembrances of who and what you encounter along the way. With old friends always present along for the ride.

To the left, the White Horse Temple is a Buddhist temple in Luoyang in Henan Province that, according to tradition, is the first Buddhist temple in China, having been first established in 68 AD under the patronage of Emperor Ming in the Eastern Han dynasty. The site is just outside the walls of the ancient Eastern Han capital. The temple is considered as “the cradle of Chinese Buddhism”. Luoyang was the ancient capital of several dynasties in China for more than a thousand years.

With Taoist mountains, temples, and monasteries, always on the agenda, and of course living and teaching in Qufu, the home of Confucius and fulcrum or pivot where my friends and trips to the countryside with students always leading the way. Always lying in wait for their turn in future chapters. The stories never getting old and their repeating always finding the nuances that make them worth re-telling. As if home once again sitting, laughing, and enjoying a bottle of plum wine with old friends. This is the essence of joy, living and dying, and meditation for me.

Reminded just now of an old friend, Li Bai, who drown on a lake after drinking too much plum wine. It is said he tried to lasso the shadow of the moon as it rippled across the water and fell out of the boat he was on… Following is an example of the writings of the famous Taoist poet Li Bai, who in 740 AD wrote: 

Thousands of feet high towers the Yellow Mountains
With its thirty-two magnificent peaks,
Blooming like golden lotus flowers
Amidst red crags and rock columns.
Once I was on its lofty summit,
Admiring Tianmu Pine below.
The place is still traceable where the immortal
Before ascending to heaven made elixir out of jade.
Now you embark on your journey there alone—

Over 20,000 poems have since been written over the centuries on Yellow Mountain in tribute to the Taoist poet Li Bai. I visited the summit and read his poetry again in October 2016.

The purpose of joy and importantly mindfulness… to rise a thousand feet in the air and to join Lao, Chuang, and Lieh Tzu and returning home again. Where only virtue resides as a forgone conclusion. Catching the prevailing wind and seeing again what lies ahead as the ultimate endeavor and destiny. It is only a matter of catching the flow of eternity that defines our bliss and finding the comfort that describes us, to always be found simply coming and going. What could be more real?

Just as what previously occurred in Chapter 4, Chapter 6 is getting too long with too many stories to tell. So, I am dividing into 6A and 6B, while still generally following the ideas of Zen and using the King of Meditation Sutra, Lao Tzu, and path of the Bodhisattva and sage as the guidepost. Chapter 6A continues below with numbers 1 through 11, 6B is next with numbers 12 through 23. As mentioned previously, the text is numbered to aid as points of discussion. Often the word I is referred to as below. This is not intended as the personal I, or just myself. It is meant as the I am that is endowed with universal oneness that aides in our seeing our connection to all things, beyond ego. For myself, it is where my travels take me. It is our dharma, our eternal connection with and to the cosmos.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – 6A / I am blessed in samadhi.

Key thought: I am blessed in samadhi – as meditation and mindfulness assist in re-making my conduct my thoughts remain universal. With this I am one with loving-kindness intent on developing a quiet mind and sincere heart with blessings secured.

  1. The question becomes how far can I travel from where I now sit as I honor those who came before me? How do I utilize my own creativity to move beyond the sense of the known and what is taken for granted, to the unknown needed for the journey ahead?
  2. Truth be told, we are here to personalize, not generalize as we are to discover our ultimate role. For myself, I think of the stupas one encounters at the Palata Palace in Lhasa that serve as reminders of our ultimate path. That our highest aspiration is to become one with all things, as the representation of the enlightened mind.
  3. To show respect for the path we now travel, we are to illustrate rightful observation of both our original nature and the nature of the environment that surrounds us. We begin by establishing opportunities to create merit and assembling attributes that further or lead to our awakening.
  4. To show respect for our path, we need to resolutely observe our thoughts and actions to ensure our dedication to our enlightenment that awaits us. Aligning our mind with virtue and placing value on truth.
  5. The ultimate aspiration to acquire and relay dharma vision this time. As the Taoist would remind us… we are to embrace the One and observe the Will of Heaven. To be infused with the heaven of pure qi, for who we have always been. The Tao always referring to that which is beyond heaven, earth, and the ten thousand things. With attending to oneself, our own awakening the ultimate attribute. (page 188 The Way of Complete Perfection)
  6. Knowing this, how is it we are to make the ultimate offering? What can our own merit look like while remaining generous with our respect that gives us the opportunity to continuously align ourselves (both our mind and actions) with virtue. To practice our Bodhisattva vow.
  7. We should remember that it was the realization of the need to make offerings that was the trigger for the Buddha’s own awakening. Giving praise to Buddhas past and present give rise to our own path and significance that aid us in our awakening, practice, our own mindfulness, and meditation. What some might call respecting our elders.
  8. What is it we are attempting to gain, but truth? Why reflecting on and learning from the King of Meditation Sutras and so much more serve to give us tremendous merit. When we place value on the meaning of truth, to what I call an understanding of the process, we learn to praise the qualities of the Buddha we incorporate into what we call our practice. Why most people assess their relationship as a “practice” and not a “religion”.

I am reminded of the cliffs and Longman Grottoes home to more than one hundred thousand carved images of the Buddha than I visited a couple years ago east of Xian and west of Luoyang. Luoyang, the capital of ancient China for more than a thousand years and the hub of the spread of Buddhism at the end of the Silk Road. From here it would be south to the Shaolin Temple and to the northeast Peking, now Beijing.

One can only imagine the words Auṃ maṇi padme hūṃ being spoken with every strike of the hammer and chisel. It first appeared in the Mahayana where it is referred to as the “innermost heart”. In this text the mantra is seen as the condensed form of all the Buddhist teachings. The first word Aum\Om is a sacred syllable in various Indian religions.  The word Mani means “jewel” or “bead”, Padme is the “lotus flower”, and Hum represents the spirit of enlightenment. Auṃ maṇi padme hūṃ… Four words to take us there with merit. They also appear as shown here outside Drepung Monastery in Lhasa.

  1. Ultimately, the question becomes to who and what are we giving merit too? Is this something that already exists we are trying to find outside ourselves we are drawn to, something eternal that is pre-existing within us already we are trying to connect or re-connect to that will show us the way, or third this cosmos driven entity that is our birthright we have always for eternity known – and will continue to know. The question the shaman has had from the beginning with knowing glances to the stars… and what is to become of our own continuum – our own role?

For the Buddhist, the guiding principle has been described thoroughly in Chapter 19 of the King of Meditation Sutra that describes the Tathagata. Over the centuries, commentaries on the meaning and clarity of Tathagata has grown as our experiences have multiplied. How we get there from where we are and coming into accord with merit.

Tathāgata is defined as someone who “knows and sees reality as-it-is” and means literally either “the one who has gone to suchness” or “the one who has arrived at suchness”. It is said to be just as the footprints of birds (flying) in the sky and fish (swimming) in water cannot be seen, thus (tātha) are those who have realized the Truth. He does not waste the roots of virtue. So many words have been used to describe him as the teacher. Foremost at the time of this writing is that he is the guide for those who just set out on the path. So much more… Tathagata is the word the Buddha used to describe himself after attaining enlightenment.

  1. We proceed with the sense of having received blessings from our many ancestors and “forever friends” who continue to play an important role in our enfoldment. With this understanding we are to proceed with our role understood. Our encounter with Tathagata is but a reminder of our purpose… we are to be a teacher.
  2. To not simply read both “new and old thoughts” but become one with the universal flow we must first excel as the student. First as you recall who you have always been. Your general countenance and smile illustrate you have it – the ultimate gift and bliss of yourself – your presence. Giving expression and offerings of merit to show the way.

(12 through 23 of Chapter 6 continues with the next entry here on The Kongdan Foundation website).

Chapter 6B What is this thing with making offerings of merit we then give away as we move closer to our authentic presence? Where is it that “living in wisdom and thoughts of Zen” i.e., mindfulness, take us without ego clouding our vision?

As how we live matures as our authentic presence as our authentic presence then becomes the path to how we begin to live within the answers to such questions. To where tradition becomes our experience – as “moments” have a way of finding us.

It is like capturing within ourselves a benchmark, from where to begin our thoughts and actions. It is where meditation, and what was referred to earlier as zazen takes us. We soon learn that it is free of the stumbling blocks of physical boundaries and language to universal acceptance, joy, love, and understanding. Just where does our self-expression lie apparent for all to see?

Views inside the Shaolin Temple (famous for kung fu) on Songshan Mountain south of Luoyang that has played a vital role in the development of Chan Buddhism in China prior to moving to Japan and the development of Zen.

Why many people say Buddhism is not as much a religion, but a practice as to how we live our lives. How we can be a better Christian or another religion and follow a meditation practice based on Buddhism. This sense of equanimity, of oneness and loving-kindness, of coming to understand the terms of suchness, encapsulates our role in the universe when we begin to look for it. It becomes our own personal journey through time – and epochs. It has never been a matter of believing, or not believing, only rather we accept our own role and following the path, or Way, that has been laid out before us to follow. Its like going to school to learn who we are meant to be, and staying until we become the right answer.

Why I liked the heading of my previous entry, “We always seem to be waiting for patience, creativity, and even divergent thinking to arrive. When it is something we have always had or known as blessings, but simply paid little attention to or forgotten”. Just where did these eternal vibrations and blessings come from? It is why and how the Bodhisattva vow and thoughts of becoming a sage are to become embedded in our nature and why looking back to the beginning always points the way.

How taking the next step from within is what brings us to our greatest joy as patience, or the lack thereof, seems the attribute most needed for the journey ahead. Another is looking to openness to experience. Openness is seen in the breadth, depth, and permeability of consciousness, and in the ongoing quest for new experiences and ideas. Although distinct from intelligence, it is related to divergent thinking and to creativity discussed in the previous entry.

At some point, you begin speaking of only those things you feel qualified to speak about. With the release of ego bringing the ultimate freedom that defines the journey ahead. Always looking to the flow of what others have written for inspiration to not settle for where we currently reside. The conundrum or paradox to be present but not here just the same. The answers taking us to our own inner reality that only we can define – to where tradition becomes our experience as we awaken with mindful awareness. Why spending our time in reflection of the King of Meditation Sutra and the Tao becomes a corner post or stone to our thinking and actions that point the way to our basis of freedom. 

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – 6B / I am blessed in samadhi… continued

Key thought: I am blessed in samadhi – meditation and mindfulness take me there. Universal in my thoughts… one with universal love. The benefit of “no I or ego”, is to be free of fear, hypocrisy, and negative emotions.

  1. The way forward continues as we learn the dharma, sutras, and tantras that serve to pull us away from needless attachments and clinging. The dharma teaches us to refrain from worldly objects and to embrace spiritual growth. It is with this we learn to focus solely on wisdom and compassion, our merit and discipline, and the proper offerings that guide our way.
  2. Much can be said about the benefits of what may be known as guarding our actions and getting our heart and minds in accord with what we bring to the path. Coming into alignment with our highest aspirations can best be done by using our wealth wisely to accumulate merit, move closer to awakening, and investing in our future enfoldment. Identifying with a particular Buddha or Bodhisattva with our aspiration, can be focused on three kinds of offerings.

1) The first offering has to do with cleaning the alter, beautifying and expressing reverence as the place of our enfoldment, adding flowers, etc. The physical place of our practice.

2) The second kind of offering is benefiting others. When we are of service to others, it is the same as offering service to the Buddha himself. To sentient beings we offer material objects to protect their bodies, we offer words and physical support to protect them from fear, and we offer them the dharma to bring them to awakening.

3) The third offering is to engage in virtue without attachment. Free from the eight worldly concerns. We practice with mindfulness, gentleness, skill, and kindness.  This is the ultimate meaning of offering.

Lao Tzu depicted with I Ching at the Taoist Cave adjacent to the Leshan Giant Buddha south of Chengdu. What is important to note is how Lao Tzu and the symbols are interwoven with the yin/yang of I Ching in the background.

  1. We are reminded again of the tathagatas and those who have come before us, especially our role in observing the roots of all things, to the attainment of samadhi, and think only of the Dharma. The Dharma is our essential character and virtue that connects us to the cosmos and to the stars and connects with who we have always been and will be again. Why the tathagatas are so important to emulate in order that we accept our ultimate role as we look to discipline and abstaining from delusion.
  2. To embrace the Tao is know the Way of Heaven, to become constant in virtue so that our qi becomes harmonious. With this we can once again align and illuminate our inner nature, thereby protecting our life-destiny. While Buddhists talk of the meaning of the Tathagata, Taoist follow a similar track geared to refraining from offending celestial order and their place amidst the dragons and the stars.
  3. Recognizing, praising, and paying respect to our peers is essential to building confidence in our own abilities. Mirroring their attributes as our own gives character and strength to our endeavors. Watt and Suzuki bringing Zen forward comes to mind as a connecting point between Maitreya and Mañjuśrī in Buddhism, and Lao and Chuang Tzu in Taoism. Always bringing the thoughts of the ancients forward as our ultimate aspiration so that we too may mirror them.
  4. Continuing with the King of Meditation Sutra, it is knowing how to give properly of our wealth and not fearing to take our own next step that lights our way and the way of others that is key. We need to know how to best give of our intentions, talents, and wisdom, that help others as we expand the meaning of what generosity means. Whatever merit we gain is for the purpose of achieving enlightenment and to attain the mind of the Dharma.

A good way to follow our intentions is to make both mental and physical offerings in keeping with our endeavors as the bodhicitta of aspiration (the state of mind of a Bodhisattva), while carrying out enlightened intent through the bodhicitta of application (our actions, as we need to know how to give that will bring about physical benefit to those around us).

  1. Taoism often talks about how people of the mundane world do not comprehend the way of the sage. People of the ordinary world are only attached to what they see, like the illusions described in Buddhism, as if the illumination of fireflies only momentarily making appearances… but present just the same.

While the sage attends to the cosmos as yin and yang transform and heaven and earth find complimentary opposites, as all follow the way of virtue, zen, and the Tao.

  1. It is as if ascendancy is tied to wisdom. Which brings us back to the true essence of the meaning of an offering without clinging. To a sense of not requiring karmic reward and to be free of expectations. To follow “the mind of the Dharma” by offering merit without characteristics, personality, or temperament. It is in this place we meet the ultimate Buddha, also known as Dharmakaya Buddha.
  2. Often the first step is to broaden our own horizons going where the outcome cannot be known beforehand. Before departing, we must first open ourselves to an offering that will get our heart/mind on the proper footing or plane before departing on the path free of these pre-conceived traits. Free of clinging to any concept.

Instructions from the Buddha says that 1) the proper method of offering is to be free from seeing the Tathagata, the Buddha; 2) to abandon hope of any karmic return; and 3) to be without the view that “someone” is making the offering. This is called a “pure threefold feast”.  All that can be practice. And if we see that all as Dharma, then every function and every thought become the path.

  1. This view is extremely important in that we follow the Buddha and zen through our meditation and practice. To want nothing in return while we dedicate merit to all beings is central to the path we follow. By doing this, the Buddha conveys we will gain authentic enlightenment by developing the three-fold emptiness of the Buddha (the object of offering), the self (the subject who makes the offering), and the action (the offering itself). 
  2. That our practice becomes our authentic presence as our authentic presence then becomes our practice. Words to live by with Mañjuśrī in Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva (“Buddha-to-be”) personifying supreme wisdom and Lao Tzu always nearby. When we offer our merit to the universe, we create eternal virtue that never fades as it becomes us, as we in turn awaken to our enfoldment.
  3. Our merit is never lost. In focusing on defining and increasing our merit, we become free. Little steps taken each day manifest into big steps that become you/us. Do only that which contributes to enlightenment as you begin to wear the countenance of the Buddha and Lao Tzu.

Chapter 7A Alan Watts – Zen, the Bodhisattvas vow, and the art of becoming.

In coming to better understand Alan Watt’s view and his influence, especially his discourses on Zen and take on ancient Hindu scriptures, especially Vedanta that I have earlier referred to, his primary concern and disappointment was how the nature of divine reality is lost on man. Complimentary opposites represent the method of life and the means of cosmic renewal and human evolution. His writings seemed to focus on our fundamental ignorance of that which rests in Tao, nature, and lack of evolution of man’s ego.

Painting by MARINA SOTIRIOU “no copyright infringement is intended.”

Zen for Watt I think, was how we are to encounter our own divinity, our own transcendence, and eventual longevity. And when we do, then what to do next. In first appreciating Zen, Watt’s book The Way of Zen, is what led me to try to better understand Mahayana Buddhism and my doing this series. He did as much or more as anyone in the 20th century to connect the West with Eastern thought and philosophy.

In Alan Watts many books and writings, he explores how a person’s identity makes them the center of the universe, conveying that the universe has meaning only if we place ourselves as its center. How the coming together of Mahayana Buddhism, Lao Tzu and Taoism, Confucius, and Vedanta became a collective wisdom shaping history and philosophy in the East, and what was to become known as Chan or Zen. Just as the I Ching, Lao Tzu and Taoism from the East, and Tolstoy, Emerson, and so many others from the West, have relayed that the separation of the Self from the physical universe has led to the mundane world’s hostile attitude to the environment and that a destructive attitude towards nature should not become what defines us. In coming to understand our place in the universe, Alan Watts legacy helped us in taking the next step.

Mahayana Buddhism as illustrated by The King of Meditation Sutra, Lao Tzu, and others below in Chapter Seven, is representative of the continuing eternal journey we all take together. Many of Alan Watts thoughts on Mahayana Buddhism will be added as we proceed. 7 becoming 7A and 7B with 7A below and 7B to follow in the next entry. Alan Watts always seems to want to say more on the subject.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – 7A Embracing discipline while abandoning hypocrisy…

Key thought: Important to evaluate yourself with constant mindfulness of your actions. Alternating between compassion and illusion. Living within a first-person account of patience. With patience motivated by our desire for inward and outward peace and by faith in our ability to accept things as they are. In Buddhism patience has three essential aspects: gentle forbearance, calm endurance of hardship, and acceptance of the truth.

  1. Writing not in the abstract, but true samadhi following the footsteps of my mentors. I am aspiring to become one with my writing in the art of becoming. What can be the illusion? What I encounter in the here and now, what I see on a winter day with snow falling this morning. Or the constancy of the pull that is coming from inside like a flame that shows the impermanence of the snow that is soon to resemble an illusion. What was here for a moment is no more. Writing always only to resemble the next step I am to take. Understanding the complimentary opposites of the I Ching and how things are meant to find the middle way.

With Lao, Chuang, and Lieh inviting me to join them, but staying to the lower clouds as I remember the meaning of having and releasing merit and earning my keep. Knowing the right steps to follow and having the mindful presence to just do so. To embrace the Tao fully, then to go to teach and write stories connecting all. As if only a reminder of images and remembrances I am to now follow.

Recalling time in the countryside with my students in Shandong and traveling throughout China to incorporate the essence of history and meaning of structure and of discipline I seem to yearn for but lack that define why I am here this time. Remaining both the teacher and student. Remembering to heed the words of my mentors. Knowing appearances – now diminished by the hypocrisy of living in illusion every day. Living in Samadhi, in meditation and mindfulness, needing the courage of innate convictions only waiting for discipline and transformation to arrive and take hold. As my writing takes me there.

  1. According to Alan Watt, what is important to note, is that early Buddhism that was to become Zen was the expression of Buddhist ideals in secular terms in early China in the arts of every type, in manual labor, and in appreciation of the natural universe. Both Confucians and Taoists would be agreeable to the idea of an awakening which did not involve the extermination of human passions. However, not exterminating the passions does not mean letting them flourish untamed. It means letting go of them, neither repressing passion nor indulging it. Much of early Buddhism in China referred to Taoist parallels, quotations, and phrases. This as much as anything led to a common denominator that fed the beginnings of Chan Buddhism in China and what was to become of Zen. (The Way of Zen page 81)
  2. The duality of self, or lack thereof always present images of ego being tossed aside. Buddhism teaching that in no self all illusions fade into nothing. What could be important today that becomes nothing tomorrow? Are we who we see in the mirror each day or something more? Does this duality serve a higher purpose just waiting to get our attention? This becomes the ultimate progression. With change the only constant as we are here to adhere to and take the next step to enlightenment, to becoming genuine ourselves without hypocrisy reflected by our practice and by how we live.
  3. In following Lao and Chuang Tzu as my teachers with Confucius adding structure, the ultimate becomes awakening to what all this could be about. This pull to encounter the seeming unknown, as something seamless waiting to be revealed through meditation, mindfulness, and study of the King of Meditation Sutra, seems to provide the answer for now. As if following the flight of an arrow shot high in the air, will it return or just keep going. Of course, it will like us eventually land… but where? And what was it that influenced its direction along the way? What winds did it encounter that caused a mid-course correcting before returning?
  4. It is as if we are on the path of “practicing pragmatic engagement” as we assess our role with all things interconnected and interdependent. Accordingly, they require systemic solutions. Where all things work together to solve the problems of the whole. A good way to begin is to teach the knowledge of the Buddha and dharma. This begins as discipline without insincerity and pretense transcending into who we have always been.
  5. The Art of Becoming is ultimately simply putting aside illusions and remaining on the path, or way, of eternal peace, tranquility, and authenticity. To step into the next step as if directed by intuitive insight. To something some would call wu wei.
  6. With the track we are following here, our focus is still on the Mahayana. Training ourselves in the three levels of discipline as follows: 1) To physically abstain from harming other beings; 2) To continuously practice the Dharma; and 3) To bring the results of our practice into the world. The challenge is to bring ourselves into the view and cultivation of dharma. Mindfulness is to do all three.
  7. Looking back and considering the essence of samadhi with the universe our guide as our responsibilities shows and teaches us the equal nature of all things. Of course, as we step out of what may be our comfort zone, we must first pivot and say to ourselves “Do I want to go there, what could this mean, and where will it take me”. Chapter 1 of the Sutra reminds us that it remains the commitments of body, speech, and mind, as pure action beyond any reference point with knowledge of the aggregates that help Buddhism for so many and to guide our way that remains important. Ultimately try as we may – you cannot get away from it. Many have asked this over the centuries and are guided by the following:

The five aggregates are:

  • Form, or rupa. The form is physical matter. It is anything you can perceive with your senses, like a tree, a cup, or a piece of cake.
  • Sensation, or vedana. The sensation is the physical sensory experience of an object, like sight, touch, and taste.
  • Perception, or samjna. Perception is the labeling of sensory experience, like salty, soft, or warm.
  • The mental formation, or samskara. Mental formations are your biases, prejudices, interests, attitudes, and actions.
  • Consciousness, or vijnana. Consciousness is awareness of physical and mental processes, including the other skandhas.

Each person experiences the world through the five aggregates. Together, they make up a conscious experience. Together, they create a sense of “I”, or individualism. It is the combination of the aggregates that we come to know as our own individual selves.

  1. It is that individualism that the interdependence of the cosmos looks to, why it begins with us and paying attention to our mind. History tells us that when our body and speech are under control, our mind becomes stable. Many feel that the mind is the vestige of our spirit, or our soul.

When the Taoist and Lao Tzu refers to the heart/mind as our “inner nature” they refer to spirit. When we are mindful, we do not forget impermanence, suffering, selflessness, or emptiness. In line with an old Buddhist saying, “To see the light of wisdom, you must first empty your cup”.

  1. To become one with our highest selves, to meditate on our presence and where it leads us. To simply remember and go there. Finding discipline is why you are here (speaking for myself). While often mistaking the sense of wanting freedom with the need for discipline needed for the journey as we look to liberate all beings from suffering, this is the way of the Mahayana sutras.
  2. Living in the mundane world it becomes too easy to become hypocritical and insincere towards other sentient beings. The first step to transparency is becoming transparent ourselves. The word seems overused these days. To see through to what our motivations and those of others seems to be the first step to awakening. Some would say in this context that transparency is intentionally baring our soul to the world by showing our true self to others. It becomes the sincerity we express that defines us. For those that follow the Way of Virtue, the Tao, it is our second nature that defines compassion.

Alan Watts impact on understanding our role, especially the Tao and Lao Tzu are immeasurable. His final book Tao – The Watercourse Way, should be read for anyone who wanted a better appreciation of history. I especially liked his take on Chuang Tzu.  Living the Tao, what would be called “everything happening as is should is should or in tse jen”. The man of Tao lives as if a fish in water as a way of life. Recognizing the flow and staying one with it… The key for Watts was his adherence to respect of and for the Tao and its principles. How the Tao reconciles sociability with individuality, order with spontaneity, and unity with diversity.

Finally, Watts dismissed the need for zazen, or what has been referred to as the “aching leg syndrome” as necessary for awakening or enlightenment. He, like many Taoist masters, felt the use of meditative exercises such as sitting as a means of attainment was to be frowned upon. One is to align with wu wei through living in the moment day to day.  

  1. When our compassion becomes our strength, this becomes our roadmap to follow. Joined with sincerity and effort…. discipline and merit will inherently follow as well. The key to wisdom is learning to abstain from hypocrisy. Where we learn to use illusion to mask laziness by covering our actions with self-interest.
  2. Discipline means recognizing our hypocrisy and knowing that it hurts others. Knowing how to act and how to change our view of things and our conduct. Having confidence gives us the dignity to overcome our fear. That we can change with wisdom and compassion aligning our actions with love and kindness.

Number 13 through 28 of this chapter to follow as 7B…

Chapter 7B “Breath is the bridge that connects life to consciousness, the bridge that unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh…

As we find ourselves at home again with both awareness and emptiness. Floating away or dispersing as the remnants of a cloud before sunrise over Huashan Mountain in Anhui Province.

It has always been our breath that connects us to the eternal as we learn to embrace selflessness. What in China for thousands of years has been referred to as our chi and to what Li Qin says connects our heart/mind to our spirit. Into something called the mystic… vibrations reminding us of origins, the unknown, and becoming transcendental to what Indigenous peoples the world over have always known. Continuing the thread of what inspired Alan Watts with our relation to the Tao and Mahayana Buddhist each moment becomes a teaching moment. Both for us and those we encounter with whom we leave an indelible impression. It was this respect for the Tao that Watts used to teach as if we were singing our own song in tune with the universe. To recognize our role with the flow of nature and stay within it and know more about life than people can see. To live the life, we sing about in our song carries the burdens of the day as we are inspired and lifted by those who came before us.

What does it mean for us to use the Tao to reconcile sociability with individuality, except to further define the role we are here to play? To live in spontaneity with divine order as our eternal calling and find unity with diversity as the meaning of life.

Alan Watts died before completing the final two chapter of his last book, Tao – The Watercourse Way, it was completed by his wife Mary Jane Yates Watts and Al Chung-liang Huang. For me, it was one of his best books as it served as a kind of retrospective of Lao Tzu’s continuing imprint, and how he and Taoism were to influence the human story. Creating the path, or way, Buddhism was able to latch onto with Taoist principles the core. The mainstay that enables the flow… with Chuang Tzu’s help history’s take on things that was to become Chan Buddhism in China and assist with what was to become Mahayana we follow here. Why references to the influence of Taoism and Lao Tzu are so essential.

Lao Tzu’s Furnace on Huashan Mountain made famous in the book The Monkey King for its pill of Immortality.

Beyond simply elixirs and “pills of immortality” to a path that would lead to the ultimate freedom of man’s spirit. It was to be Buddhism’s take that was to have the final say.   

Mahayana Buddhism as illustrated by The King of Meditation Sutra, Lao Tzu, and others below in completing Chapter Seven, is representative of the continuing eternal journey we all take together. Many of Alan Watts thoughts on Mahayana Buddhism that were included in 7A will be added as we proceed with 7B. Alan Watts and Lao Tzu always seem to want to say more on the subject.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – 7B and walking with awareness…

Key thought: Evaluating ourselves with constant mindfulness of our actions. Alternating between compassion and illusion. Living within a first-person account of patience. With patience motivated by our desire for inward and outward peace and by faith in our ability to accept things as they are. In Buddhism patience has three essential aspects: gentle forbearance, calm endurance of hardship, and acceptance of the truth.

  1. We further define our role by walking with awareness. Regardless of what you have learned, without correct discipline you cannot be protected from stray thoughts and the hypocrisy of others. Walking the walk of enlightenment, not just reading the words, and agreeing that they convey the truth we are to follow but living in the truth of awareness.
  2. With the Tao and the Bodhisattva vow, simply knowing how to be disciplined will not keep you from acting impulsively. We begin to emulate compassion and wisdom by aligning our actions with our highest endeavors. It becomes you as there is no rush. There is confidence in that there is nothing that is stopping you. Keeping to the open road as we gain merit is seen as the only path worth traveling.

I also reflect on Hua-yen Buddhism, a school of Chinese Buddhism based on the Flower Garland Sutra and is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty.

Buddhist carving from Chongqing National Museum

What it says about a small act of giving that has repercussions in an interdependent and interconnected world. According to this tradition, one small act of charity (dana paramita) is said to be equal to countless acts of charity. No one can measure the effects of a single act of giving, for its repercussions are beyond our limited imagination. 

  1. It is the company we keep that helps to determine our path. If we associate with those who possess compassion and wisdom, then we too gain aspirations aligning with our peers. Discipline helps to create divine order that keeps us from veering into delusion, and our keeping commitments in doing so. What could be more important than our awakening to supreme bliss as we refrain from activities that disrupt our mind.

In my review of the Flower Garland Sutra, I found it is not widely known in the West, yet it has had a profound and lasting impact on the way Zen and Chan Buddhism are practiced. The heroic Bodhisattva most prominently featured in the Sutra is Samantabhadra, whose name means “universal virtue.”

Often depicted riding an elephant, Samantabhadra, with his calm dignity, specializes in performing devotional observances and in artistic, aesthetic expressions of the sacred. He also resolutely practices the Bodhisattva vow through accomplishing many varieties of helpful projects, each aimed at benefiting all beings and engaging the societal systems of the world. As a result, Samantabhadra can serve as a great encouragement and resource both for artists and for modern “engaged” Buddhism and its renewal of Buddhist societal ethics. He is often associated with practice and meditation in Buddhism.

  1. There comes a moment when stabilizing our minds ensures that we do not break our vows. When we have focused on mindfulness and meditation, then discipline becomes the natural outcome as we return to and reflect on the value of emptiness and freedom. With the ultimate freedom, the freedom of our minds gives rise to the qualities of virtue and wisdom. It becomes easy to mistake remembrances as imagination when our imagination is the key to our not repeating mistakes and adhering to the correct path.
  2. When we can see our activities as following pure conduct as exemplified in the five aggregates that make up sentient existence and our conscious experiences to be empty and selfless, as described in Chapter 39 of The King of Meditation Sutra, then our vows cannot easily be broken. This becomes the key to understanding selflessness wherein every moment is an opportunity to engage in self-cultivation as we in turn practice releasing negative emotions.
  3. The dharma teaches us that we should not become obstacles to our own practice, inner vision, and enlightenment as we in-turn release these negative emotions and habits. Buddhism refers to negative emotions and habit as mara and the problems associated with clinging to one’s ego and fear. Practicing emptiness and the discipline of maintaining the correct view is how we deal with mara.
  4. Emptiness has always been inexpressible and free from characteristics… something naturally pure. The Mahayana teaches that from the beginning everything is peace, the Bodhisattva who sees this knows the truth. Something we all will come to understand. It is the acceptance of emptiness when we see that phenomena by its nature do not exist. They were never truly born or ceased to exist.
  5. They simply take on a different form over time. All things have impermanence without substantial existence. It is the spirit – the mind that continues. Meaning we never truly are born and never truly die as we accept the selfless nature of phenomena. This becomes what can be said of the ultimate freedom.
  6. To know freedom, we must adhere to all the elements of the path focusing on emptiness and wisdom. How is it we realize this through assembling the conditions for proper practice, engaging in generosity, keeping our discipline, clarifying our view, and training in meditation? This becomes the ultimate defining moment of our acceptance of the elements of the path. We soon learn that others not on the path cannot be held to the same account. Why remaining empty to that found in the mundane world becomes essential to our peace of mind.
  7. This is the key to acceptance of selflessness. Where are we… This review of both Buddhism and Taoism with an effort to understand the meaning and purpose of Zen, is both to enlighten and motivate us to become our true selves. Acceptance and acknowledgement of something we do not understand is the first step to wisdom. We are now in Chapter 7 of “In the Footsteps of Bodhisattvas – Buddhist Teachings on the essence of Meditation” and the concept of reincarnation was inevitable.
  8. Three thoughts going forward are consequences, discipline, and merit. The strength of understanding all this is gaining an appreciation for emptiness. Why the concept of meditation and preparing our minds become central to the essence of who we are. It is in this moment we become free. The Bodhisattvas adhering to wisdom loses attachment to those things of little or no consequence. He will not experience aversion, ignorance, be free of objects found in mara, and he maintains the pure world of the Buddha.

That ultimately its not pills or potions depicted at Lao Tzu’s Blast Furnace near the West Peak of Huashan Mountain. Or the scriptures that insure immortality. It is recognizing and acceptance of our own innate divinity. That the realization of emptiness and selflessness is beyond expression as what we see is only an expression of our mind.

  1. When we free ourselves of illusion our ability to look back to beginnings and see all phenomena as if a dream becomes apparent. It becomes the essence of where meditation and mindfulness (samadhi) take us. It is where the discipline found in structure leads us as we leave samsara behind. Discipline will always be the caveat that has the final say in the timing of our ultimate arrival.
  2. It is often said that viewing our disposition of what we see in the mundane world begins to change as well. The perception we have of our own role is that all phenomena become nothing but our own reflection. With judgment and appearance as visual defects we do not see actual substance of mind – but when our disposition changes, we see the external world change. Our disposition determines our view of the world.

26. Chapter 9 of the King of Meditation Sutra relays the many attributes of the Bodhisattvas. By not perceiving phenomena, they have no attachment, anger, ignorance, or wrong view. Meditation is not something simply to do, but who we have become as the natural extension of our presence. Having discipline, wisdom, knowledge, merit, and many other characteristics with our minds liberated by true knowledge. Problems arise when we return to the negative “I or ego”. When the benefit of “no I” is to be free from fear and negative emotion. For many Bodhisattvas, maintaining this discipline becomes the starting point for truly beginning to help others.

  1. Maintaining discipline is the key to enlightenment, thereby making meditation simply the vehicle that opens us to the sky. It becomes how we define suchness, our ultimate connection with the universe.
  2. To natural luminosity transcendent of definition of what may define us. To characteristics beyond description or appearances that can be described. Beyond doing to being, things simply naturally occur in your presence. Your surroundings only the essence of nothing.

Chapter 8A What is it we give our attention to but our conscious awareness and presence we nurture and have always possessed?

Finding joy with just who we are…

What can conscious thought be, but confidence with attention that later becomes our intention. As our intention permeates the vibrations of our eternal presence. Mindfulness is about understanding who we are and moving to our highest aspirations of endeavor and destiny. When you walk in mindfulness, you are in touch with all the wonders of life within you and around you as if all life is a miracle.  This is the best way to practice, with the appearance of nonpractice. You don’t make any effort, you don’t struggle, you just enjoy walking, but it’s very deep.

“My practice,” the Buddha said, “is the nonpractice, the attainment of nonattainment.” In what the Taoists and Lao Tzu, would call wu wei. As if walking beyond the present moment to both what is known and unknown. Finding joy just the same.

Unconcerned with what final destinations look like. In faith of the unknown we proceed with assurances beyond a practice defined in physical and religious terms. To what I like to call “as if living your life beyond the beyond”. Coming to terms with who we are is essential first. Using wise thinking and counsel from our mentors to decide how to handle life’s events, as you cannot limit yourself to continuously being unaware.

Consciousness may never arise – or simply appear as a spark as the universe demonstrates its own presence through the nature of things. Awareness always entails the ability to gain confidence and knowing what one knows reflecting divine order and to act accordingly. As the Bodhisattva vow permeates our actions and world.

When we speak of mindfulness we infer “conscious thought”, what some may say is known as “having an institutional memory” of past events that help to guide us or assist in taking us there. It becomes the starting point for our imagination combining real and unknown based on what then becomes possible. To what some may refer to as “moving with or in faith”. This ability forms the basis for what we take to be the most direct indication of awareness of where nothing begins or ends. To a continuum we seek that defines both us and all things. The answer always lies in understanding contradictions of life’s true nature.

When we observe the absence of this knowledge involved in our decisions, we conclude a decision was based on unconscious knowledge. As something we believe to either be true or not true outside or external to ourselves, even to what is thought to be known, but yet is unknown. We sometimes direct our attention and thought towards assessing the contents of our experience. The resulting consciousness involves a re-representation of consciousness in which one interprets, describes, or otherwise characterizes the state of one’s mind in the present. If mind connotates spirit or one’s soul, from where does conscious thought derive and this awareness lead?

Karmic wheel at the Sera Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet. The bhāvacakra is a symbolic representation of samsara (or cyclic existence). It is found on the outside walls of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries in the Indo-Tibetan region to help people understand Buddhist teachings. (I took this picture in October 2018 while in Lhasa).

In studying Zen, and the role of both the sage and Bodhisattvas, why is the above discussion important to an understanding of what is consciousness, but the continuation of spirit, our eternal essence or presence? Timeless and constant we travel through the universe with our entry defined only by “how and where do we go from here”. What is our ultimate role and where does this understanding, and path take us? We go forward as a pivot.

As a commentary of what we know that is important in showing the way for both our own enfoldment and others. Putting things in our own words. What is important must pass through us as we put into context what it means through us. We capture a word, phrase, or sentence as if we have just been waiting for its arrival. Taking nothing for granted until it goes through you to see if it fits your own intrinsic innate eternal nature. What is the circle of life, but what moves us beyond where we now sit that further defines our presence?

Mahayana Buddhism as illustrated by The King of Meditation Sutra, Lao Tzu, and others below in Chapter Eight, is representative of the continuing eternal journey we all take together. The chapter is divided as with previous chapters into 8A and 8B. Chapter 8 includes numbers 1 through 15. Chapter 8B that follows will include numbers 16 through 30.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – 8A Gaining confidence as our conduct must exhibit motivation as our aspirations align with the teachings we choose to emulate and follow.

Key thought: To gain the confidence to live your life correctly and courageously as the teachings of the Buddha and Lao and Chuang Tzu dictate.

  1. Remaining empty with discipline to be filled only with compassion as we endeavor to be free.
  2. Chapter 7 of the Sutra tells us to release all anger and to meet others with compassion. With this we begin to learn patience that gives us the confidence to practice correctly. It is as if the Sutra is telling us “If someone is taking you where you want to go, just pick up your feet.”
  3. Our conduct must be an offspring of our motivation endowed with compassion and free from clinging to old ideas that inhibit us on the path to freedom. As we ask ourselves, does our meditation and our aspirations align with the teaching of the Buddha and Lao Tzu?
  4. Our study should be on-going. Our practice is how we live, not just that found on a cushion. Always open to learning something new from the old ways others lived and what they followed that inspired them to become their highest endeavor. We gain inspiration through their vigor, their patience, and the purity of their motivation. Also, to acknowledge that they too were not perfect. As they strived to move beyond their own human imperfections.
  5. Within the transformative process we are to forgo sentimentality for the present, as if understanding the demeaner of antiquity. As we in turn acknowledge our past. To something the sage and shaman, and we, have always known. Recalling that both the Tao and Buddhism teach that desire brings both ingenuity and error and with emotions come difficulties.

Embracing virtue, the essentials found in the Tao, protects what is called our life destiny as we are to maintain an unagitated heart/mind in our relationships with others. (page 195 of The Way of Complete Perfection).

  1. This view is essential in recognizing associations we have gained over eons of time as relationships that further our eternal growth and development. That we are not alone in nurturing our endeavors as we are to assist in facilitating the growth of others. Over time this ability to eliminate thoughts of self-interest, as promulgated by Buddhism and other paths have shown thinking and acting only with us in mind, is not the proper path we are here to follow. With this, in practice of samadhi, our presence focuses on meditation and conduct that are interrelated with our view, compassion, and patience.
  2. Focusing on emptiness allows us to be in constant readiness to take the next step to awakening that brings us back to compassion and patience. Remaining empty to be made full again with thoughts and actions of merit our agenda. It seems like the only commonality among people and things found in nature begins with compassion, finding our bliss and knowing with correct understanding what takes us there.
  3. Compassion in Buddhism means everything should be found on the same equal footing. Again, all things found in nature just want to be happy and maintain their place and role in the overall scheme of things. It is this that brings forth the intrinsic sameness found in all things when we have the patience to recognize this truism. Just as our teachers are those who convey and transmit the Dharma, i.e., the intrinsic virtue that connects all to the cosmos.
  4. Finding ourselves on this path leads us to ask what is our next step? Chapter 18 of the Sutra conveys that we must perceive all buddhas and bodhisattvas as our teachers. Also, those who bring or deliver these teachings of the Dharma as our teachers as well. With experience as a teacher, I know that to prepare to teach, you must thoroughly know your subject. As the starting point, we must acknowledge and become comfortable with the equality found in the world of impermanence. That all things change to become something else. It’s not complicated, we only make it so due to ego and who we think we are that in all reality is simply illusion.

Without attaining the true transmission of the utmost Tao, what is most important will become empty and fleeting and you will lose what is real. If you are only concerned about craving and delusion and do not wake up, you will float and drown in the dream of ephemeral life. Reincarnation will not have a fixed limit. How then can you become free of life and death? Get rid of this and ardently seek out a great person, whose sincerity is extended, whose counsel is penetrating, and whose discernment is liberating.

As soon as one awakens, one returns to the fundamental. One directly leaps beyond the realm of formlessness. Orient yourself towards the great Tao and engage in cultivation. Internally preserve spirit and nourish qi. Externally mix with the ordinary and join with the dust. This is residing in the world while being beyond the world. Then you may join the assemblies of immortals and buddhas (page 216). For myself, it’s returning home to be with dragons once again. When what was thought to be unknown is nothing more than what you have always known but forgotten.

  1. Acknowledgement and recollection of our own nature keeps us grounded in the pervasiveness of wisdom, or what should be considered as the transcendence of the cosmos. It is who we are before illusion comes forth to greet us in the mundane world. The ground and path we tread is both pure and illusory. Understanding this purity is what brings us to calmness and patience.
  2. It is to this point of inquiry that most people find challenging because it requires us to make a choice. Seeing everything, all phenomena as limitless, we can begin to see selflessness that contains no afflictions is what leads us to emptiness. It is this concept that the Buddha Siddhartha addresses so well and why additional study is so important in attaining the freedom of patience. It is in the patience gained through meditation we learn freedom and come to truly know ourselves.
  3. It is the complete purity of everything that is the basis of supreme patience. Mahayana Buddhism teaches us that it is in our meditation we learn that the object of meditation is ungraspable and at the same time limitless. From here when we go forth in a post-meditative state, we can see everything as an illusion. As attachment lessens and our wisdom increases, we find patience.
  4. Clearing our mind to get to this point is difficult. It is why a commitment to a Buddhist practice over time becomes essential. The idea of renunciation and relinquishing those things that keep us from awakening become foremost in our mind and actions. What is it we are to give up, or even wish to achieve in following the correct path… to be free of attachment and suffering?
  5. We begin by taking small steps. Sitting meditation practice requires patience. In our actions stop anger and assess where it comes from. Be peaceful, letting silence be our guide. Most things past by us without our input… just let things flow by as they simply take care of themselves. Commit to virtuous deeds as we accumulate the merit that contribute to our growth and awareness. Find what makes you happy and unobtrusive to others and go there. Take the goodness intended by the teachings of the Buddha as your guidepost into your heart. Reduce pride and ego and let go of anger towards non-Buddhist views.
  6. We continue by practicing the patience of listening to the teachings as we incorporate them into our thoughts and wisdom. Our focus becomes our conduct and our ability to train in meditation. As our insight continues with reflection. This begins with listening and releasing ego that will dispel doubts as to our intended direction and ultimate liberation.

Chapter 8B that follows will include numbers 16 through 30.

Chapter 8B We should only see life as it should be with memories and actions that help to shape our identity. Reminded of that old fable about how virtue and patience and the underappreciated tortoise wins the race in the end.

With trusting in our eternal growth as the key to transformation and transcendence we come to perceive or understand as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly and with certainty our deeper knowing, even when it has not emerged to the top level of our consciousness. It is in knowing who we have always been and are yet to become that defines our eternal presence with goals we may yet be unaware of. As we refrain from anger and self-absorption, that can cloud both our virtue and vision.

Moving to places that inner chi and breath can take us with mindfulness defining our presence.

 As we are reminded of impermanence and illusion found in the mundane world. We are to be viewed as engaging in truth with meditation expanding that truth and our conduct as expressing that truth. 

The principles of growth and change found in the Tao provide satisfying conditions that remind us of the journey we are here to resume and continue. For myself, it becomes the ultimate strength of the marriage between Buddhism and Taoism. With sustaining merit found bringing Confucius along for the ride reminding us of what’s found with the eternal underpinnings that steadies and keeps us grounded in the present.

Simply finding the vehicle that propels, or takes us there, as we strive to bring others to liberation as well. While coming to know the principles of merit the essence of how and why we continue. Only our lack of forbearance – patient self-control; restraint and tolerance seeming to keep us from advancing. Moving forward we become one with conditions the prevail rather than resisting them, while not resigning ourselves to conditions that are not satisfying. It is as if we are here to find solace that gives comfort or consolation and the right starting point with ambitions that match our continuing journey. Endeavoring to find contentment in what makes us content.

To like Paul from the Bible who tells us, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content.”

Our lives appear as stages that meld and yield wisdom from the past upon which the next stage is built and the foundation, we each build upon. The visible symbol of our realization that who we are represents living in mindfulness; instead of merely a life lived. To see into the divine heart of others and their true nature. Regardless of what people say, it is right and wrong. Understanding the contradictions keeping us from reality and exploring the meaning of there being more to our purpose than experiencing freedom. Just as our spirit craves longevity, diversity, and nature that supports beneficial growth that takes us and others there as well.

That we are to cease resisting and struggling that define our needless suffering and accept our innate divinity and abundance of resources the universe provides and envelop them as our own presence. What the sage, saint, and shaman have long relayed as our eventual path, or way. Acknowledging our mentors as we go and that there can be no separation because we are all one.

As stated earlier we begin with our conduct as an expression of our motivation. This idea has been the thread of the King of Meditation Sutra we have been following. What is the circle of life, but what moves us beyond where we now sit that further defines our presence?

Mahayana Buddhism as illustrated by The King of Meditation Sutra, Lao Tzu, and others continues below in Chapter Eight, representative of the continuing eternal journey we all take together. The chapter is divided as with previous chapters into 8A and 8B. Chapter 8B that follows includes numbers 16 through 30. Numbers 1 through 15 preceding this here on my website.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – Buddhist teachings on the essence of Meditation. Chapter 8 continued: Sixteen through thirty / Bringing others to liberation.

  1. This understanding is what defines the ultimate bodhisattvas vow and that which is useful for bringing others to liberation. To teach only what takes others beyond affliction in accordance with their own unique karma and capacity. As you teach what brought you to your own realization.
  2. One normally begins with looking back at the Four Noble Truths and contemplating what it is that brings us here. They explain the basic orientation of Buddhism. They are the truths understood by those who have attained enlightenment or nirvana. The four truths are dukkha (the truth of suffering); the arising of dukkha (the causes of suffering); the stopping of dukkha (the end of suffering); and the path leading to the stopping of dukkha (the path to freedom from suffering). Dukka is an innate characteristic of existence in the realm of samsara. The final truth, (the path to freedom from suffering), is often associated to what is called the Noble Eightfold Path and is the path leading to renouncement and cessation of dukkha.
  3. Those who know of this refinement and practice, know that it involves cultivating innate nature and life-destiny so that one may fully penetrate principle and pervade the mysterious, what is the unknown, with the Three Teachings referred to as the awakening to the Tao. The Three Teachings refer to Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. (page 196 of The Way of Complete Perfection).

As we acknowledge that what we are trained in is the realization of what we teach. My classroom at Jining University in Qufu.

  1. It is moving beyond the source of affliction that defines if we are truly ready to follow the Buddha. When we can declare victory over doubt, afflictions, incorrect views, and concepts so that we can understand the true meaning of patience.
  2. Meditation is not only how we sit, but continuous, and how we bring samadhi to our lives. Chapter 7 of the King of Meditation Sutra conveys the importance of being free of doubt and having confidence in the Dharma as being the first type of patience. Chapter 7 of the Sutra also relays that with continuous meditation any agitation vanishes and cannot disturb us as the second level of patience.
  3. This leads us to what is known as “calm-abiding” practice helping us to become more stable aiding in watching the weaknesses of others who could use the strength of samadhi in their own lives. Helping us to visualize seeing beyond the mind, to the place where all hope has almost vanished and all expectation ceases. Living in this liberation freedom becomes us as we become the benchmark for others to follow. With this our essence our virtue and the Tao becomes us and all things.

I like to think of the symbol of the ancient dragon that serves to connect all things under and with heaven. Man, simply one of the ten thousand things. To a consciousness connected with all things in the cosmos, or universe, with none more important than the other – nature always having the final say. Our own divine nature having responsibility to and for it all as the ultimate protector. All living and dying in nature’s sway. The ancient shaman and sage following a course of events through eternity that we continue to this day.

  1. It becomes how we move as a mediator for the benefit of others. This highlights for many the difficulty in embracing Buddhism. How is it we are to define moving ourselves to the point where hope vanishes, and expectations cease? Where whatever we see appears to be transparent. It is like being in the boat or raft crossing the river. Do we continue to the unknown shore unsure of what lies ahead, or return to the shore of what we know and take for granted? Even with observing The Parable of the Raft that is one of the most famous parables taught by the Buddha. He compared his own teachings to a raft that could be used to cross the river but should be discarded when one made it safely to the other shore. We are to proceed with what we have learned through our own insight and study.
  2. This is what following in the bodhisattva’s footsteps means. We are to gain wisdom as we cross over so that we land safely on the new shore prepared to take the next step with the goal of furthering our own enlightenment as we guide others as well. We take steps learning the terrain, showing others how to get to a certain point that they can then continue themselves as we give them what they need now. Then move forward again in a continuous cycle. This calm biding practice, often referred to as shamatha, is used to keep us focused.
  3. Attainment of shamatha gives us confidence and strength granting us the ability to bring other sentient beings onto the path. It brings insight to our path, steadiness, and most important, it moves us to understand that the mind is no longer a thing to be influenced – as we move to wisdom and to ultimate transparency. To the place of having the clarity of a mountain-like mind.
  4. Abiding with transparency with others present, it is often difficult to move a person beyond their comprehension with only words. Our focus becomes how our actions move them with what they need at that moment. It is through our patience we learn to act and speak with clarity, intention, and insight. The same Chapter 7 of the Sutra mentioned above says that we must always act with “a mountainlike mind”. These are the qualities of the third level of patience.
  5. Speaking with a “mountainlike mind” one need looks no further than the sage. The sage acts to benefit all under heaven and with virtue found on earth. In Taoism, when we refer to the above it is often as the Tao in the Tao Te Ching. Verse 64 is relayed in the teachings of the sage as Ho Shang Kung who lived in 100AD provides what is called the “first evidence for Taoist meditation” and “proposed concentrative focus on the breath for harmonization with the Tao.”

Continuing… we are to contemplate the context adding from Kung, “Others seek the ornamental. The sage seeks the simple. Others seek form. The sage seeks virtue. Others seek facts and skills. The sage studies what is natural. Others study how to govern the world. The sage studies how to govern himself and how to uphold the truth of the Way.”  (page 129 of Lao Tzu’s Taoteching translated by Red Pine with selected commentaries of the past two thousand years) 

  1. Over time the direction of our lives takes on a life of its own. Doors open and close that move us to our highest endeavor when we stop pushing things in the mundane world letting the flow of the universe just take us there. Finding and following the attributes we already possess is the key to our awakening.

Living in meditation and our essential mindfulness or capturing this flow and attuning our nature with this – is our life’s ultimate endeavor. What we consider wealth has no meaning until we find our purpose. When we do so, the universe is here to help guide our way. The great vehicle identified in the King of Meditation Sutra outlined here is simply a guide to help open the door.

  1. It is how we act with the coming and going of creative resources that reflects our mind. Buddhism is not against comfort but is against anything other than Dharma (the universal sustenance of all things) that can create lasting satisfaction. It is impermanence and patience that propel us away from delusion to the clarity of wisdom that follows and the essence of reality.
  2. Chapter 7 of the Sutra conveys that what is good for the Buddha is good for the bodhisattvas as well. Their methods and conduct are all practiced by them. This equates as the third level of patience. What is important is the sincerity of our efforts. As if following the ultimate strand of our DNA that connects our essence and ultimate nature to universal law of cause and effect and our own eternal knowing… that which we have always known.

It is here that research, study, and learning of the path and the travails of those over the centuries contribute to both our practice and especially the fullness of our lives. Not only the narrative of the life of the Buddha, and Lao and Chuang Tzu, but the history of those who have followed in Tibet, China, and elsewhere. It is our story too. At their heart, they were storytellers. We should endeavor to recall and learn from them again. Their stories are the key to our learning patience in finding comfort on the path we are here continue and to follow.

  1. As we are known by our presence, it is our sincerity that opens the door and asks us to stay. The key to sincerity being do we possess the ability to be a witness to our own behavior. Over time it is the fruit of our patience that allows us to see and go beyond the beyond. What do we carry with us? It is that our view is engaging in truth. That meditation is expanding the truth that exists from within, and our conduct is expressing that truth as we travel in eternity throughout the cosmos. As we learn for ourselves the true meaning of Zen.

Chapter 9 is next following… The way of living in Zen, mindfulness, and joyful purpose as we awaken.

Chapter 9 Living in Zen – Reflecting thoughts of the cosmos and eternity

The key is remembrance. Whether it’s remembering to come back to the present moment, recalling the truth of impermanence, or who we have always been and are still yet to become. We are reminded of images of our past as our continuing presence and what is yet to be determined.

Picture of Dan in Qufu standing next to place known as “Confucius Hill” along the Xiaoyi River where Confucius is said to have instructed his students more that 2500 years ago. Confucius romanticized name is Kong. Because I was a teacher in Qufu and my respect for Confucius, in China I became known as Kongdan. Hence… the Kongdan Foundation.

Our practice (the Buddhist word for how we live moment to moment) is living in transparency. Having a mindful presence. Becoming fearless in both life and death. We all know that we’re going to die, but we don’t know it in our guts. If we did, we would practice, i.e., live as if our hair were on fire. One way to swallow the bitter truth of mortality and impermanence—and get it into our guts—is to consider the four reminders. That we are not here under the auspicious of legitimizing our path, while de-legitimizing the path of another. The ultimate meaning of becoming transparent. The four reminders, joined with mindfulness meditation, instill a strength of mind that benefits both self and others.

The four reminders, or the four thoughts that turn the mind, are an important preparation for death because they turn the mind from constantly looking outward to finally looking within.

These reminders, also called the four reversals, were composed by Padmasambhava, the master who brought Buddhism from India to Tibet. They can be viewed as representing the trips Siddhartha took outside his palace that eventually transformed him into the Buddha. During these trips, Siddhartha encountered old age, sickness, and death, and developed the renunciation that turned his mind away from the distractions and deceptions of the outer world and in toward silence and truth. They help us keep moving increasingly in line with what’s real and true, as opposed to getting continually sidetracked and distracted by what’s easy, convenient, or what we think we want based on external influences.

As with mindfulness itself, the four reminders provide another way to work with distraction. They bring the key instruction from The Tibetan Book of the Dead to not be distracted to a more comprehensive level. The four reminders show us that it’s not just momentary distraction that’s problematic but distraction at the level of an entire life. If we’re not reminded, we can waste our whole life. The Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche presented them this way:

FIRST Contemplate the preciousness of being so free and well favored. This is difficult to gain and easy to lose. Now I must do something meaningful.

SECOND The entire world and its inhabitants are impermanent. In particular, the life of beings is like a bubble. Death comes without warning; this body will be a corpse. At that time, the dharma will be my only help. I must practice it with exertion.

THIRD When death comes, I will be helpless. Because I create karma, I must abandon evil deeds and always devote myself to virtuous actions. Thinking this, every day I will examine myself.

FOURTH The homes, friends, wealth, and comforts of samsara are the constant torment of the three sufferings, just like a feast before the executioner leads you to your death. I must cut desire and attachment and attain enlightenment through exertion.

How long should we contemplate these reminders? Until our mind turns. Until we give up hope for samsara (the worldly cycle of birth and death) and realize the folly of finding happiness outside of ourselves. Most of us spend our lives looking out at the world, chasing after thoughts and things. We’re distracted by all kinds of objects and rarely investigate the mind that is the ultimate source of these objects. If we turn our mind and look in the right direction, however, we will find our way to a good life… and a good death. Instead of being carried along with the external constructs of mind, we finally examine the internal blueprints of mind itself. How it is we are to live – as we become fearless.

As stated earlier we begin with our conduct as an expression of our motivation. This idea has been the thread of the King of Meditation Sutra we have been following. What is the circle of life, but what moves us beyond where we now sit that further defines our presence? Mahayana Buddhism as illustrated by The King of Meditation Sutra, Lao Tzu, and others continues below in Chapter Nine, representative of the continuing eternal journey we all take together.

In the footsteps of Bodhisattvas – Buddhist teachings on the essence of Meditation / Chapter 9 Finding joy in samadhi… a continuing commentary.

Key thought: To cultivate awakening with a joyful presence.

  1. The King of Meditation Sutra stresses our focus should be on joyful effort with an emphasis on awakening within the context of samadhi. The bodhisattvas are to cultivate this samadhi to see and act beyond themselves.
  2. How do we define samadhi for our own growth and change? (The term ‘samādhi’ derives from the roots ‘sam-ā-dhā’, which means ‘to collect’ or ‘bring together’, and thus it is often translated as ‘concentration’ or ‘unification of mind’.)  How do we create the perfect union of the individualized soul with infinite spirit, a state of oneness, complete absorption? Samadhi means many things to many people.

It is an experience of divine ecstasy as well as of superconscious perception where the soul perceives the entire universe. In other words, human consciousness becomes one with cosmic consciousness. The soul realizes that it is much more than the conditioned body. Christian saints have previously described this experience as “mystical marriage,” in which the soul merges into God, soul, and spirit and becomes one with Him. Mystical marriage or spiritual marriage (also espousal to Christ) is a figure used to denote the state of a human soul living intimately united to God through grace and love.

  1. Throughout history people have tried to realize the ultimate meaning of samadhi and live within the trajectory of what nourishes our highest aspirations. Understanding that whatever can be the truth can be our teacher. The ancient shaman taught our connection to the stars, nature, and our surroundings would be what defined our own history as we live within the constraints of this wisdom.
  2. It begins with our merit for all fear to melt away and the realization of our commitment to dawn from within. Therefore, wisdom from the teachings of the Buddha and others we have studied and gained insight from is critical. The Buddhist always recognizes that what is left undone in this life will/can be done in the next life. This assurance allows us to work on merit that moves us to a higher realm of consciousness and to become emblematic of transcendence. To rest assured with who we have always been and will always be.
  3. It is walking the path without doubt that enables us to know what we need to do and live in the world with this understanding. It is this that guides our meditation practice with clarity and sincerity towards our own life and the lives of others. With this we learn the impermanence of all phenomena in nature, the laws of cause and effect, and reasons why staying in samsara is not for us.
  4. It is as if we are trading what we think we know, for the comfort found in what we do not but would if we could. We inspire ourselves through a practice that takes us beyond anything we can imagine. It is here we consider the Tibetan word for diligence as joyful effort that results in pure insight as the ultimate expression of our own divinity.
  1. Ultimately, the question becomes “what is our mindset and where are we doing it from, who are we and where do we go from here?” There is a transformation of consciousness that we look to at some point with exertion becoming necessary if we are to be transformed. The King of Meditation Sutra tells us that if we are to stabilize samadhi, we must remain committed to the process. What we then find is joy by integrating instructions we receive into a meditative and mindful practice.
  2. Is it as Ram Dass says, that if you are happily ignorant in the present enlightenment is not something you are interested in pursuing knowing you are embraced by the buddhas. Since this is about Buddhism, Taoism, and Zen, the diligence needed or spoken here may not for everyone. In “following the bodhisattva path where we gain their blessings and qualities”, we not only help others along the way, but also help ourselves develop towards attaining enlightenment. If this is not fitting with our life choices and they lead elsewhere, then we should look elsewhere.
  3. Taking the path of meditation and mindfulness is not one for the fainthearted. It requires work. For many it is referred to as practice. It is not something we do… it becomes who we are. It is how we live with structure and compassion encompassing all those that have been discussed in the chapters preceding this one. It is about persistence, training, and learning about ourselves.
  4. We look to the benefits of following the King of Meditation Sutras and other teachings over the centuries that show us the way. What are the values of the sutras? They provide a description of advantages of practice gained over thousands of years, along with accounts of those who have made the Dharmic journey. I have been to numerous Buddhist Temples and Monasteries, museums with artifacts dating thousands of years, the Longman grottoes, Giant Leshan Buddha, throughout China, plus Lhasa, Tibet, and more, as inspired and illustrated throughout this endeavor. Telling the story that was a purpose in my travels.
  5. Traveling with Lieh, Chuang, and Lao Tzu and writing books about the I Ching, Taoism, and the role of the sage, has given me a perspective to become re-acquainted with my peers as if becoming a sage is simply not enough. Studying the ways of bodhisattvas is essential as well… knowing our place and what we do when we arrive.
  6. What is important is being guided by both aspiration and inspiration. I am reminding of how over the centuries Buddhism and Taoism came together in China. In a famous commentary of Chapter 16 of the Tao Te Ching by Te Ch’ing, a Buddhist monk, who lived in the 15th that century reads:

“To know what truly endures is to know that Heaven and Earth share the same root, that the ten thousand things share the same body, and there is no difference between self and others. Those who cultivate this within themselves become sages, while those who practice this in the world become rulers. Rules become rulers by following the Way of Heaven. And Heaven becomes Heaven by following the Tao. And the Tao becomes the Tao by lasting forever.”  

Te Ch’ing established a monastery in the 1500’s at Mount Lao, or Laoshan, on the coast of the Shandong Peninsula where I visited in 2017. (Pictured here) Laoshan is known as one of the birthplaces of Taoism. It is the place where the Complete Perfection School of Taoism developed that is often referred to in these pages.

  1. Chapter 38 of the King of Meditation Sutra says that the bodhisattvas should focus on three areas. First, the exhaustion of afflictive emotions; second, becoming a field of merit; and third, generating roots of virtue with the wish to obtain the wisdom of the buddhas. Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching became the benchmark, with Buddhism’s teachings the fulcrum, and Confucius the overriding structure that made it work over the centuries.

This idea of virtue was the connection between the three competing philosophies in China (Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism). Over the centuries, they merged into a workable framework that allowed each to flourish. A famous picture of Lao Tzu, the Buddha, and Confucius over a vat of vinegar from the Song Dynasty in 1000 BC tells the story.  

  1. It is becoming a field of merit as we rise above negative thoughts and emotions in the mundane world with the teachings of the Buddha that remains the key through virtue and wisdom. In doing so it is important that we accept our own greatness through our power of awareness.
  2. Observing our actions is a central focus of self-awareness, how we control our emotions, how much our thought creates new thoughts, and how much attachment you have considering your own merit. It is from here that we continually focus on the attainment of wisdom. With this we vanquish the negative and ascend the positive through diligence.
  3. To go beyond is to embody both wisdom and virtue. That the teachings of the Buddha, samadhi, and Lao Tzu form the underpinnings of our journey with both our heart and soul fully entrusted to the outcome. When you see yourself on the path rejoice in the power of your vision and ultimate destination.
  4. We are to be active for others sake and our actions reflect a higher good as we engage in positive activity. Focusing and setting our mind to the thoughts of our mentors. In addition to the Buddha, others come to mind including Lao and Chuang Tzu from Eastern thought and philosophy, as well as Emerson, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and others in the West. Emulating the thoughts of our mentors should be reflected by our actions. Garnering or gathering merit as we re-discover the flow of the cosmos we have always known.
  5. Set your mind on awakening and loving-kindness through diligence as you gain the quality of your mentors through merit. It is here that we come to know unrelenting joy as we refine diligence by 1) continuously recalling impermanence, 2) tame negative emotions, 3) become a field of merit, and 4) by attaining wisdom.

Living in Zen – Reflecting thoughts of the cosmos and eternity with the essence of joyful spiritual presence, mindfulness, and gaining an appreciation of samadhi while taking others to places they might not otherwise go… as we live and follow in the footsteps of Bodhisattvas.

 

 

Rebecca Haden