The Dalai Lama states:
"The destructive effects of hatred are very visible, very obvious and immediate. For example, when a very strong or forceful thought of hatred arises within you, at that very instant, it totally overwhelms you and destroys your peace of mind, your presence of mind disappears completely. When such intense anger and hatred arises, it obliterates the best art of your brain, which is the ability to judge between right and wrong, and the long term and short term consequences of your actions." (Ibid., p. 250.)…
However, the role of Buddhism in creating healthy life-conditions does not involve miracle cures, but employs methods for dealing with the emotional elements that accompany pain and even intensify it. The Dalai Lama indicates that happiness is not merely a feeling, but is the result of right thinking. Our problems begin with negative thinking. However, negative thought is not intrinsic to our minds and the mind can be trained to develop positive attitudes of love, compassion, patience and generosity. This approach has taken form in what is known as cognitive therapy, which seeks the source of negative and self-defeating ideas. Right thinking is not just a matter of correct information and belief. Right thinking in Buddhism means a transformation in one's understanding of the nature of existence. Enlightenment is transformation of one's total being.
I should point out that there are forms of therapy based in Buddhism. From the Pure Land tradition, there is the method of Naikan therapy which is a system of introspection to make one aware of our interdependence with others and to arouse the sense of gratitude for their contribution to our lives. This positive force can offset personal problems that induce negativity.
There is also Morita therapy based in Zen Buddhism and is reality therapy, that is living in harmony with reality as it is. According to Morita therapy, "the gap between the world as it is and the world as we think it ought to be can fill with pain. When we do not look the way we think we ought to look and when we cannot accomplish our goals as rapidly and effortlessly as we think we ought to be able to accomplish them, we worry that either there is something wrong with us or we are victims of injustice. Rather than futilely railing against nature or trying to force it into complying with our ideals, we can learn to live in harmony with it. To live in harmony with nature, we accept as parts of ourselves our talents, imperfections, painful feelings and real desires."
I should conclude by indicating that Buddhism has all the elements of folk religions common around the world. There are Buddhas and bodhisattvas who offer healing and prayers requesting their blessing. There are shrines and services where people seek alleviation and healing from their illnesses. Among the most common figures are: Yakushi Buddha, the Buddha of healing; Kuan-yin, the Bodhisattva of compassion (a central figure in healing); and Jizo Bodhisattva who cares for children and the dead and also heals. Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra devoted to Kuan-yin presents the blessings she gives to her devotees. The text called the Heart Sutra, a profound philosophical text which is one page, is often recited in times of disaster and personal problems. There are practitioners who are considered to have special powers for healing and are consulted for many problems. There are practitioners in this community, some well known and others not.
In addition, there is the Daishi-sama cult based in Shingon Buddhism. The central figure is Kobo Daishi, a great teacher in ninth-century Japan who founded the Shingon sect. He became known in popular tradition as a healer, as well as culture hero. Many people in Hawaii also pray to Kobo Daishi.
Much of Japanese religion focuses on healing using different methods. The popular religion is focused on benefits in this life of health, wealth and success -- though still holding traditional beliefs about the afterlife. The modern new religions also maintain this emphasis.
Buddhism is a complex of spiritual principles, practices and practitioners all designed to enhance the life of people corresponding to the level of their understanding and devotion. The heart of Buddhism is the Buddha's compassion, which takes many forms and applications.

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News Letters
1999

Toowoomba Buddhist Society (TBS), Australia:
A sizeable Buddhist Society is now meeting regularly in Toowoomba. The group evolved out of a course entitled 'The Buddhist Way of Personal Growth' offered through the Adult and Community Education (ACE) program at SQIT over the last eighteen months. The SQIT courses have all recruited well suggesting a great deal of interest in the community at the moment in Buddhism.
The interest seems part of a boom Australia-wide. Figures from the census bureau indicate a trebling of people involved between the 1981 and 1991 census, making it the fastest growing 'religion' in the country. This growth also seems to be a worldwide trend in Western countries and it seems in part to be the result of disillusionment with materialism. Also Buddhism represents a 'Middle Way' between the extremes of 'heaven or hell' in the traditional religions and the nihilism so typical of modern materialism. Neither of these extremes is very appealing from a Buddhist point of view. Instead Buddhism emphasizes ethical responsibility and a non-theistic, practical approach to direct contact with the transcendental.
The SQIT course stresses the fresh, open and eclectic approach of the emerging Western Buddhism. Buddhism in the West at the moment represents a unique historical occurrence - the coexistence in one single country of all the various types of Buddhism existing in the world. The new Western Buddhism (which has been around only for about the last three decades) has gone right back to the core of the Buddha's teachings and tends to be more open, inclusive, non-dogmatic and non-hierarchical than the ethnic or cultural Buddhism of Asia. In particular it transcends the rigid split between monks and laity so typical of the latter forms of Buddhism.
The essential teaching of the Buddha emphasizes 'Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels'. The Three Jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The Buddha is not considered a God but rather the embodiment of human enlightenment, which any human being is considered to be potentially capable of. The Dharma is the Teaching or method of achieving this goal, and the Sangha is the group of fellow aspirants who tread the path. So the Buddha represents the ideal of human enlightenment or the possibility of us breaking free from the suffering that is so much a part of the human situation. The Dharma is the detailed and practical methodology of how to do this. The Sangha functions as a support group of like-minded people whom practice and study together and support each other on this difficult path. Together they are described as 'true' refuges, as opposed to the 'false' refuges thrown up by an immoral and materialistic world. They are considered to be true because they represent a solution to unhappiness as opposed to the false refuges of short-term pleasure and hedonism, which can not give lasting happiness. So in a sense Buddhists are spiritual refugees.
The Buddhist teaching, more commonly described as the Buddha Dharma (The Teaching or Way) rather than as a 'religion', is an exceedingly clear and systematic method of personal, psychological and spiritual growth. It is also a very positive teaching considering the potential for such growth in any individual to be infinite. It is also emphatically non-dogmatic even in relation to its own teachings. It stresses to its followers to try the teachings out to see if they work in an experimental fashion and not to accept anything on the basis of 'blind belief'. The simplest way of describing the essence of a Buddhist practice is that it consists of practising ethics, meditating, and studying and realizing insight or wisdom. These characteristics of the Buddha Dharma plus its emphasis on taking responsibility for oneself and one's own actions and its overwhelmingly practical or applied nature seems really appealing to the pragmatic nature of Australians.
The group is in the process of attempting to set up a Buddhist Centre out of which it will run meditation and other related classes. When it has achieved this then Toowoomba will be one of only three Western Buddhist centres in Australia (the other two being in Melbourne and Sydney) perhaps suggesting the pioneering spirit for which this region is so well known.


Some Aspects of Western Buddhism
Most people would be aware of the enormous impact of Buddhism on Eastern cultures but perhaps less so of its impact in the West, which is now becoming considerable. Buddhism originated in the 6th century BCE (Before the Common Era is used now by students of comparative religion rather than the Christian calendar notation of BC and AD). There is evidence of contact between Buddhism and the West as far back as the time of Alexander the Great (356-323BCE). In fact as I understand it the first figures of the Buddha were created in ancient Greece.
Historically speaking, however, the dominant Western attitude to all things Eastern, according to Stephen Batchelor's book The Awakening of the West, has been blind indifference. Accept for a period in the 13th century, that is, when Genghis Khan made his presence felt over an enormous amount of Eurasia, from Korea to Poland, the largest land empire in the history of the world. After this there was much more communication between East and West and Buddhism became known in Europe. From then until the 18th century the European attitude to Buddhism Batchelor characterizes as self-righteous rejection-it was dismissed as heathen idolatry (and probably still is in some quarters).
From the latter part of the 18th century a marked interest in Buddhism began in the West. This is when the Western word 'Buddhism' was constructed (and other new words like 'Hinduism'). As I've pointed out in a previous article, Buddhism was not known as such in the East. It was simply referred to as the Dharma, which means variously, 'the teaching', 'the truth' and 'the way' as in 'the way through the teaching to the truth'. During this time Buddhism attracted a spectrum of interest. Victorian scientists, busily rejecting the traditional religions because of their metaphysics and lack of empirically observable facts, were drawn to Buddhism and considered it as a field of rational, scientific knowledge. The Buddha's teaching was considered to be empirical based as it was on inner observation. It also attracted the eye of missionary and other scholars who translated much of it into English using cumbersome, Western Christian style terminology. It also influenced certain Western artists and philosophers, Edwin Arnold's poem The Light of Asia, for example, being particularly popular.
Buddhism was also central to the early Theosophists such as Madam Blavatsky. Batchelor describes the Theosophists as romantic fantasists (not fanatics) in contrast to the more scientific and scholarly interest in Buddhism. Madam Blavatsky and her partner were the first Westerners to publicly embrace Buddhism in Sri Lanka in 1880. The Theosophists were instrumental in bringing Buddhism into Australia at the turn of the century and I've been told that there has been Theosophists in Toowoomba right up to the present!
Interestingly Paul Crouch in his book A History of Buddhism in Australia (1848-1988), suggests the historical involvement of Australia could have started much further back in time. In fact, he quotes A. P. Elkin who wrote a book in 1945 entitled Aboriginal Men of High Degree (as I recall he was a professor of anthropology at Sydney University at the time). In this work, which is a fascinating read, Elkin suggests that things like aboriginal ignition rights and special powers were influenced by Tibetan Buddhism. I can't help but feel that such claims at that time in Australia must have branded him as quite an eccentric. There are even assertions that certain aboriginal rock-paintings in Northern Australia depict the Buddha! Far fetched as these may sound Crouch points out that it is well known that Asian traders were here long before Dampier and Cook. It is highly likely that navigators from China and certainly from Indonesia, which was influenced extensively by Buddhism, interacted with Northern Australia. Maybe these traders brought Buddhist monks with them, who knows?
In the five decades since WW2 there has been a massive upsurge of interest in Buddhism in the West. The Dharma has firmly established itself in the Western countries of the North Americas, Europe and Australasia. Between the 1960s and 70s Asian teachers, particularly Japanese Roshis and Tibetan Rinpoches carried out most of the Dharma teaching. During the 70s almost every extant form of Buddhism in the world arrived in the West. These traditions established urban Buddhist centres and rural retreat centres and widespread teaching programs. The influx included representatives of the Tibetan Gelugpa, Kagyupa, Nyingmapa and Shakyapa traditions. From Central Asia came Japanese Soto and Rinzai Zen, Chinese Ch'an (the original Zen), Korean Son, Vietnamese Thien, as well as teachers from Burmese, Thai and Sri Lankin Theravada Buddhism.
Significantly, at the same time, new Western Buddhist organizations appeared for the first time. A handful of Westerners who had travelled to the East and studied Buddhism and become ordained Buddhists returned to the West in the 60s and began to establish groups of their own. Even the Asian Buddhists had already been adapting their teachings for Westerners. (It is a historical fact that Buddhism has always adapted itself to the cultures it's spread into; that is why there are so many varieties). People like Sangharakshita, an Englishman who spent 20 years as an ordained monk in India, founded the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO). Others included Robert Aiken Roshi, who founded the Zen Diamond Sangha in Hawaii, Philip Kapleau Roshi, founder of the Rochester Zen center in New York and Lama Aangorika Govinda's (a German national) who founded the Arya Maitreya Mandala in Germany. The FWBO, as an example, now has something of the order of 79 centres in 23 countries including Australia and New Zealand.
So what are some of the features of this emerging Western form of Buddhism? I'll only touch on a few of these this week as from now on there will be a regular series of articles appearing in the Star exploring the nature of Buddhism from this perspective. The first and most obvious is the coexistence of all the major Buddhist traditions in Western countries for the first time in Buddhist history. So not surprisingly Western Buddhism is eclectic - it borrows from a great range of teachings and techniques and adapts them to Western needs. Again this has been typical of the whole history of Buddhism as it encountered different cultures. A simple historical example is the fact that Buddhism when it first moved from India to China taught its doctrines using the concepts of the indigenous Chinese Taoist philosophical tradition. In fact a distinctive Chinese form of Buddhism known as Ch'an (Zen in Japanese) resulted from the intermingling of Taoism and Buddhism.
A second feature that has come from this recent diaspora of Buddhist teachings into the West is that they are now being translated much more clearly into English. There has been an explosion of scholarly interest. Consequently much more systematic and in-depth knowledge is coming through. It's also being translated much more accurately as it is stripped of its earlier quasi-Christian terminology. The Canons of Buddhism are monumentally extensive dwarfing the Bible and the Koran and as this detailed knowledge comes through it impacting on Western fields like psychology and the new physics.
Western Buddhism, as exemplified by the FWBO for example, consciously addresses issues peculiar to the contemporary Western situation. What is the relationship of Buddhism to Western culture? How do contemporary political, economic, environmental and social ethical issues effect its practice? How does a Christian (or post-Christian) upbringing effect one's attitude to ethics and spiritual matters? How can one combine having a family with one's desire to practice the Dharma? As I mentioned in a previous article Western Buddhism doe not favour the lay-monk split typical of traditional ethnic Buddhism-more about that in the next article.
We live in trying times in the West. There is a lot of negativity around. Late capitalist societies, like Australia and NZ, are now riddled with social problems. These include unemployment, inequities in income distribution, poverty, homelessness, drugs, crime, massacres and right wing fanaticism to name a few. Contemporary governments obsessed with an ideology of economic rationalism have elevated the market place and the dollar above all else to the neglect of social and environmental issues and the neglect of their citizens. Buddhism represents a profound critique of this trend. But it also offers practical advice for people disillusioned with materialism and looking for ways out of all the negativity.
To conclude, one simple meditation practice, which Western Buddhism has discovered to be of particular significance for contemporary people, is the metta bhavana practice. It means 'making to become' (bhavana) 'loving kindness' (metta) and has become a foundation practice. In the first stage of it you give rise to a strong feeling of loving kindness to yourself. Then you spread it to others and the whole world. A lot of Western people have a great deal of difficulty with the first stage. They discover that they don't much like themselves. At this point I'll simply pose the question as to why this is the case in Western societies. It is worrying if our society has created a situation wherein people fundamentally don't like themselves or feel that they are flawed in some way or are simply outright angry. It's worrying because we inevitably project what we feel inside onto the outside world. There does seem to be an undercurrent of dislike and anger in our societies. The metta bhavana practice helps individuals transform this negative emotional energy into positive. This Anzac weekend a group of people from the Toowoomba Buddhist Society is going on a weekend meditation retreat to deepen this type of meditation practice. Soon the society will be offering an introduction to Buddhist meditation course that includes it.

Beyond The Monk-Lay Split:
Whilst the history of Asian Buddhism is largely the history of Buddhist monasticism, western Buddhism seems to be moving in a different direction. Most of the Buddhist organizations in the west today concern themselves with teaching different varieties of 'lay-Buddhism'- they've moved beyond the traditional monk-lay split. They are trying to create some kind of accommodation between the demands of a Buddhist practice on the one hand, and those of a modern western lifestyle on the other. It seems (according to recent scholarly research) the division between monk and lay developed in the early Buddhist sangha as the result of cultural processes and altered the nature of the community the Buddha himself established.
So in Western Buddhism lifestyle is considered secondary to commitment. In other words it's possible to be actually more spiritually committed as a householder than a spiritually apathetic monk. That is not to say, however, that is not possible to be in a monastery or single sex community and committed as well. It's the commitment that is primary and the lifestyle that is secondary. The principle commitment a Buddhist makes is to Go for Refuge to the Three Jewels-the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.
It's considered that only these Three Jewels can give lasting happiness, peace and security. People are usually going for refuge to what we call the 'false' refuges, things like drugs, gambling, craving material possessions and so on. They are seeking happiness in short-term hedonism and external material possessions but because nothing lasts frustration and suffering are inevitable; that is why they're described as 'false' refuges. The Buddha said that just as the ocean has but one taste that of salt so too the Teaching has but one flavour that of freedom. So going for refuge means literally to seek true freedom and safety, to escape from suffering.
The first jewel, the Buddha, symbolizes the possibility for any human being of achieving the emancipation of Enlightenment, as did the historical Buddha. The act of bowing to a Buddha figure (rupa) is simply a ritualized acknowledgment of this fact; it certainly isn't bowing to the Buddha as some sort of a God. The Dharma is the second jewel. It's the teaching, the philosophy and the vast array of practical tools like meditation techniques that can help you become Enlightened or at least grow. The Sangha is the fellowship of practitioners all striving for the goal who provide support for each other on the path.
So in western Buddhist organizations like the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) the order is neither lay nor monastic. Some members choose to be celibate, others not. Some live with their families and hold regular jobs, others live in single-sex residential spiritual communities and work in Right Livelihood businesses. There has been a call as well for a western Buddhist monastic system, which would be an interesting development'

Buddhism - Its Starting Point:
One of the distinctive features of Buddhism, compared to the other traditional 'religions', is that it starts with the mind. In some respects that is why the word 'religion' doesn't sit easily with Buddhism. Most religions involve belief in a creator God, and in dogma, and devotional practices that celebrate that God and those beliefs. Buddhism in contrast starts with working directly on the mind, your own every day mind. It is intensely practical and this is one of its features that contemporary westerners find very attractive. The Buddha in his teaching said that Mind precedes all things, mind is supreme, mind-made are they . The distinctive thing about our species that distinguishes us from the other animals is that we have self-consciousness. We can look into our own minds, we can make choices. That is why we named ourselves homo sapiens, 'wise man'. But from a Buddhist point of view this ability of human beings for self-consciousness is a double-edged sword-it cuts two ways. It is the root of our creativity. However, as we will see in next week's article, it's also the root of our destructiveness. With it we can choose to behave ethically. We can also use it to work directly on our own mind by meditating to eradicate negative mental states and replace them with positive ones. That's all, in essence, a practicing Buddhist does!

The Mind - A Double-Edged Sword:
Last week we established that Buddhism, unlike other religions, starts with the mind. The human mind is unique in that it has self-consciousness. This sets us apart from the other animals. Whilst the other animals are generally speaking simply aware through their senses and driven by their instincts we have what philosophers and psychologists refer to as 'reflexive' consciousness. If you look the word 'reflexive' up in a dictionary you'll find it means to bend back on itself. In other words, we are not simply aware through the senses we are aware that we are aware. The mind bends back on itself and can look into itself. Because we are aware of something being aware we have consciousness of a self. We are taught to label this 'something being aware' as the 'self' or 'I' from an early age. Now once we become aware of ourselves as a self we experience that self as separate from everything else. Because we experience ourselves as separate from everything else we can manipulate the world around us.
This is where the double-edged sword idea comes in. Self-consciousness allows us many advantages and creative potential. With it we have a sense of autonomy and can make choices and engage in purposeful behaviour to ensure our survival. We can make and build things and pass this knowledge on. We can reason, remember and imagine and all of these abilities come from the mind being able to look into itself. However, on the other hand, the experience of separation from everything else (including other people) is dangerous. If mistaken for a reality it becomes from a Buddhist point of view a dangerous delusion (moha). In fact, from this perspective nothing can actually be separated from anything else; everything is part of an interwoven flux of ever changing conditions. Ultimately the human being can not exist separate from the air they breath, the water they drink and the plant and animal world that sustains them. They are part of the natural environment. They also do not exist independently of other human beings; they depend on them for psychological nourishment and even our own individual personalities are shaped by our interactions with family and friends.
So the experience of separation is apparent rather than real. Einstein described it as a sort of optical delusion. From a Buddhist perspective it is a very useful illusion because it does enable us to manipulate things and thus helps ensure our survival. However, unless it is grounded in an actual experience of the unity of all things (which is part of the Enlightenment experience) it remains a very dangerous ability. Consider the consequences of manipulating the natural environment on the basis of a belief that it really is separate from us when in reality it is not?

The Deluded Mind:
In the last article we saw how the fact that humans have self-consciousness is like a double-edged sword. It cuts two ways being, at one and the same time, the root of our creativity as well as our destructiveness. We are in a highly paradoxical position as a result of having self-consciousness. We are part of Nature, part of biological evolution, but that part which is conscious of itself. Hence we experience ourselves as separate from the rest and yet we are not. The experience of separation enables us to manipulate the rest to a far greater extent than any other animal. Together with self-consciousness this experience of separation, which is inherent in self-consciousness, means human beings have tremendous power. We have more power in relation to other species and our own than any other living being. And yet we are part of Nature, part of evolution.
So we are in a difficult and paradoxical position. From a Buddhist perspective the experience of separation is considered apparent rather than real. If believed to be true, that is an actual separation or disconnection from the rest, then it is a delusion (moha). Unfortunately, because this predisposition is 'hard wired' into us (part of our physiological make up), we do as a species automatically fall foul of this delusion. However, the Buddha Dharma teaches that it is possible to escape the delusion. It is possible to resolve the paradoxical position of humans in a correct fashion.
Last week we posed the question of considering the consequences of manipulating the natural environment on the basis of a belief that it really is separate from us, when in fact it isn't? If it really is separate from us we can do anything we like to it without fear of consequence, like for example changing the physical and chemical properties of the atmosphere. The fact that this inevitably rebounds on us (the perpetrator) as pollution, acid rain and global warming simply indicates that we are not separate from it in the first place.
Unfortunately when we look around the world today we can only conclude that our western worldview has reinforced a belief in this deluded view that we really are separate. Environmental degradation is occurring on a scale never before witnessed in human history. When we look at the larger picture of geological time, there may have been eco-catastrophes in the past that drove species to extinction (eg. meteor impacts), but never before has this been done by one species to other species and potentially to their own!
The materialistic worldview has also, in defining Nature as nothing other than collections of dead inert, matter, led to a disrespectful attitude to Nature. In Buddhism Nature is respected as profoundly alive and mysterious. We also live in very selfish times when people are encouraged to separate themselves out from each other more than ever before in human history. Next week we investigate from a Buddhist point of view how the delusion of separation creates these tendencies within the individual and how they are also the root cause of our own suffering.

The Three Poisons
Once self-consciousness creates the experience of separation between self and other, as discussed over the last few weeks, certain negative tendencies automatically follow. An unfortunate by-product of self-consciousness is that, because we do experience ourselves as separate, a deep, existential state of tension follows. It could be characterised as a deep sense of aloneness , incompleteness and therefore insecurity. It is very deep in the sense that it is 'hard-wired' into us. It comes, in other words, from our physiology, our senses and our brain, which enables the experience of consciousness of self and perceiving the world dualistically and fragmented into a myriad of separate objects.
According to the Buddhist teaching (Dharma). in order to overcome this tension or insecurity two primal tendencies arise-craving and aversion. Craving plays the role of attempting to incorporate into out self-system, in order to give us more security, those things we perceive as pleasant. Aversion attempts to repel or push away the things we perceive as unpleasant and threatening to our self and its sense of security. This is what modern psychology describes as approach-avoidance tendencies inherent in perception. According to some psychologists we spend 80% of our time seeking 'love strokes' and the other 10% avoiding threats! Both these tendencies of craving ( ) and aversion ( ) are rooted in the basic delusion (moha) of separation which generates them. Together they are known in Buddhism as the three poisons. So named because not only do we experience world as a delusion (dualistic and fragmented when in fact a whole but e introduce as subjective filter that breaks the world up into pleasant unpleasant attractive etc-poison the mind.

The Possibility of Change
Last week we discussed the negative tendencies that automatically arise in the human mind because of our experience of separation from the Other. The experience of separation comes from self-consciousness and we try to overcome the tension created by this by craving the pleasant and repelling the unpleasant. In this way we try to secure our fragile ego. Traditionally, greed, aggression and ignorance operating within the human mind are known as the Three Poisons in Buddhism. These three poisons have now spread beyond the confines of the human mind to manifest as real, observable poisons effecting the global environment. The commentary on the Cakkavattisihananda Sutta of the Pali Canon, (thousands of years old; a sutta or sutra is a single teaching given by the Buddha on a specific theme), spells out this human-environment link between human morality (or lack of) and environmental consequences:
'When humanity is demoralized through greed, famine is the natural outcome; when moral degeneration is due to ignorance, epidemic is the inevitable result; when hatred is the demoralizing force, widespread violence is the inevitable outcome.'
These tendencies, according to the sutra, contribute to an unsustainable situation and the end result is devastation and a shortening of the life span of the population. A cursory review of the world today would suggest that all of the above negative situations are present around the world on scales never before witnessed in human history.
However, the sutra's discussion of the link between the human mind and the environment continues as follows:
' ... If and when humanity realizes that the large-scale devastation has taken place as a result of its moral decline, a change of heart takes place ... As morality is renewed, conditions improve through a long period of cause and effect ....'
Buddhism has a cyclic view toward all natural phenomena. It considers that when people wake up to the fact that their actions are impacting negatively on their quality of life, there is a change of heart (down in the emotional realm). The situation described in the quote also fits what many people hope is happening at the moment throughout the worldwide community in relation to environmental issues.
Buddhism is (and always has been) very optimistic about the human condition and its potential to develop higher ethical sensibilities. This is possible within the individual as well as within society as a whole (as in the quote above). No matter how unskilful we have been, no matter how much we have allowed craving, aggression and confusion to drive us, we can always reverse the situation. A Buddhist monk I met once in China quoted me the following verse, which illustrates this point nicely:
No matter how far you swim out in the bitter sea,
You can always return to the beach.
Put down the killing knife!
In the west we tend to have a fixed view of the self - we are what we are what we are; a leopard can't change it's spots, and so on. The Buddhist conception is much more fluid and positive. There is literally nothing we can not make of ourselves.



It is Fortunate to be born Human (article for 'Star' newspaper 14/6/99 by Roger Bastick):
As we have seen, deeply ingrained in the human psyche is a fundamental delusion (moha) that we are apart from everything else. This produces the two primal tendencies of approach and avoidance, craving and aversion. These volitional tendencies or samskaras drive our habit energies and generates our karma that results in us becoming what we are today and what we'll become tomorrow. All of this is an unfortunate by-product of self-consciousness. But there are 'wholesome roots' or tendencies as well that are an inherent part of our nature. In a sense they are deeper still, because karmically they have resulted in us being born as humans. The Buddha considered this as highly fortuitous. He likened the probability of being born human to the probability of a small turtle rising from the floor to the surface of a vast sea just as a piece of wood with a hole in it floated by. Imagine the probability that as the turtle stuck its head out of the water it emerged through the hole in the wood. That's the probability of being born human, said the Buddha.
Because humans have self-consciousness we can look into and control our minds if we choose to. In other words, part of our karmic conditioning is that we have self-awareness and volitional choice itself. Thus the human potential for growth is unlimited from a Buddhist point of view. The fact that we can all also potentially be very evil means that the matter can't be left to chance-the stakes are too high. From a Buddhist perspective it's crucial to accept the challenge of consciously encouraging our good impulses and transforming the negative.
However, people tend to be overly cynical about the ability of humans (including themselves) to grow and be skilful. As stated last week the western view of the self tends to be a fixed one. The Buddhist view is that we can transcend the 'self', the self that is causing the problems and our own suffering. This 'petty' self is actually a fraction of our total being and our potential. In the Mahayana schools of Buddhism this potential became described as our inherent 'Buddha Nature'. We all have it as our birthright-it is the 'embryo' of Enlightenment. The latter may be a long way off but spiritual change (a movement toward Enlightenment) can start immediately if we so chose. We can thus see that the Buddhist perspective on our basic human nature is profoundly optimistic.
We need to take heart in the Buddha's message that all obstacles, no matter what they might be, really can be overcome. That we, whoever we may be, are capable of overcoming them. In the longer-term course of one's life, there is no limit - absolutely none, according to the Buddha-to what men and women can make of themselves. This is the objective potential of being human. We all have this enormous potential. It's worth reminding ourselves of this objective fact often; otherwise our cynicism can undermine our natural self-confidence. Confidence that we can change ourselves, at least by degrees, is the foundation of the whole spiritual life.
Buddhism distinguishes between 'worldy desire' (kammachanda) and spiritual desire (dhammachanda) - the aim isn't to eliminate desire, but craving.

The Four Noble Truths
The distinctly human trait of self-consciousness, as we have seen, has positive aspects to it and negative ones. It enables us to experience ourselves as a separate self and thus enables creative activity such as autonomous decision-making, reasoning, imagination and manipulation of the surrounding environment through the manufacture of tools and technology. However, it also produces a sense of discomfort, of existential tension. This may be at such a deep level that we are largely unconscious of it (maybe we have hidden it from ourselves). We experience ourselves as alone, as separate from the environment (including other people). Hence we feel incomplete. Many a western tradition, biological, psychological and spiritual, recognizes that only a sense of connection with the surrounding environment, a sense of union with the Other (usually described as Love) can provide a feeling of completeness for us. Buddhism agrees entirely.
The Buddha started his teaching (the Dharma) by addressing this peculiarly human situation. The most concise exposition of the Dharma that he gave is probably the Four Noble Truths. The First Noble Truth states that dukkha, variously translated as suffering, pain and unsatisfactoriness, is an inevitable and universal part of life for all sentient beings. The Second Noble Truth is that the origin of dukkha lies in craving. The Third is the Truth of the end of suffering through the extinction of craving. The Fourth Noble Truth is the Path leading to the extinction or cessation of craving and thus suffering. It's known as the Noble Eightfold Path.
The First Truth is saying that all sentient beings, all beings aware of things through the senses, are subject to suffering in their lives. It's an inevitable by-product of being born into a body. The Buddha stated that birth is painful, disease (and accidents) is painful, aging is painful and death is painful. Not all sentient beings are thinking beings but they share with us the pain of old age, decay and death. They also feel pain as we do, especially the more evolved, because of their senses. That is why Buddhists traditionally avoid harming, if possible, other living beings and indeed feel a bond with them.
Some of this suffering is unavoidable. Disease, old age and death are unsatisfactory situations that arise unavoidably because we are born into these bodies. However, humans also create for themselves 'avoidable' forms of suffering and this is because we are thinking beings. These types of suffering or unsatisfactoriness are the products of craving, as in the Second Noble Truth. According to the Buddha they are to do with being united with what one dislikes, or separated from what one likes and not getting what one wants. They are mental or psychological forms of unsatisfactoriness based on our craving things and not having that craving satisfied. Furthermore these types of bodily and mental suffering overlap with each other. We crave to be, to live on and on, but we don't, we die. We get sick or depressed but we crave not to be sick or depressed thereby doubling up the suffering.
However, according to the Buddha, these forms of suffering are avoidable. With the extinction of craving they end. Thus Buddhism is again a profoundly optimistic teaching. It faces up to the toughness of life, it doesn't run away from it, or seek an answer in an afterlife. The Third and Fourth Noble Truths say that suffering can be overcome and offer a detailed Eightfold path to achieve this in this lifetime. With the end of suffering comes permanent, lasting happiness. So the Four Noble Truths are one of the most positive teachings ever formulated.

The Law of Conditionality:
Underpinning the Four Noble Truths outlined last week is a concept of conditionality. An essential part of the Buddha's Enlightenment was insight into what has become known as the Law of Conditioned Co-Production (Pratitya Samupada). According to this law everything in the phenomenal world comes into existence dependent upon a set of conditions complexly interwoven with each other. When these conditions cease the phenomena ceases. The Buddha himself expressed it thus: This being, that becomes, from the arising of this, that arises; this not becoming, that does not become; from the ceasing of this, that ceases.. In many ways this is why Buddhism is so clear in its teachings. Some have likened it to an almost scientific way of viewing things.
In relation to the Four Noble Truths the law of conditionality works as follows. The first Noble Truth says that a thing exists or event occurs. In this case that the occurrence of dukkha, suffering or unsatisfactoriness, is a universal characteristic of life. The second Noble Truth says that this thing or event (dukkha) exists or occurs in dependence upon particular causes or conditions-the occurrence of craving. The third states that in the absence of these conditions or causes (craving) the thing ceases to exist or occur. The fourth Noble Truth says that there is a way (the Eight Fold Path) to ensure that the phenomenon in question (suffering in dependence upon craving) is not produced and, therefore, no longer exists.
This is pretty easy to understand at the intellectual level. However, to solve the problem it's not enough to just understand it at this level. Instead the truth of dukkha, that suffering, anguish and unsatisfactoriness are 'part and parcel of life', and originate from craving, has to be understood at the emotional level, in our hearts. Then its origins have to be let go of, its cessation has to be realised, and the path leading to its cessation has to be cultivated. So in one way the four truths are challenges to act, to undertake a course of action. In this sense the Buddhist path is one of effort not to be lightly undertaken.
Practitioners clarify their views through understanding the teaching; but then must use their own self-awareness to observe these processes in their own minds. They need to see if the teaching is correct or true and if it is, and they really wish to end suffering, they need to commit themselves to the course of action necessary to end it. The Dharma has often, throughout its long history, been likened to a healing process. But to achieve the healing the medicine needs to be taken. It's like that old saying Physician heal thyself! Next week we'll investigate the nature of craving, the cause of the problem, in more depth.

A Healing Process (2/7/99):
Last week we saw how the Four Noble Truths related to the Law of Conditionality or Causality that underpins the Buddha Dharma (Teaching). Suffering, pain and anguish (dukkha) come into existence because of the presence of craving. When this condition or cause is removed suffering ceases. The Fourth Truth states that the Path leading to its cessation is the Noble Eightfold Path (wrongly referred to as the 'right' Fold Path, in last week's article-a typing error).
The Teaching has often, throughout its long history, also been likened to a healing process. The Four Noble Truths are based, according to this view, on an ancient Indian medical formula. The First Noble Truth is the disease or its symptoms (dukkha). The Second is the deep underlying cause that needs to be diagnosed. The Third identifies the cure and the Fourth prescribes the treatment and provides the medicine. The cure is to extinguish or to 'let go off' of craving. The complete removal of craving is one meaning of the word Nirvana, meaning literally blown out. At a deeper level it means a mind beyond all conditioning including the way craving conditions the mind.
Now a crucial distinction between 'desire' and 'craving' needs to be made. Buddhism is not against all desire as is misconstrued in many quarters. Many of our natural desires, such as hunger and thirst, serve the purpose of ensuring our survival. If neglected or repressed we will die. Also desires such as ones like the wish to help others, to become educated and to grow psychologically and spiritually are considered very healthy in Buddhism.
There is a world of a difference between healthy desire and craving. The latter is selfish, self-centered and implies a neurotic clinging to the object desired. The problems start when our inner, psychological hungers and thirsts get caught up with our normal physical hungers and thirsts. When we are stuffing ourselves with food or pouring alcohol down our throats because of a feeling of inner emptiness and confusion. When this is happening our attachment to things like these as well as drugs, gambling, sexual partners and all sorts of material things is neurotic. It's neurotic when we are projecting onto the thing far more than it can possibly satisfy. There is also a world of a difference between healthy self-interest and unhealthy and destructive selfishness. People seemed confused about the distinction these days. Or perhaps they are just conveniently hiding it from themselves?
If we feel hunger or thirst and desire for food or drink and when consumed feel satisfied and leave it at that, then it's normal health desire. If we go completely to pieces when our partner leaves us, or the thing is taken away from us, then this is a sign that we have been neurotically attached. Our relationship with it has been based on craving. Also there is the issue of are our motives based on health self-interest or selfishness? How many of us can pass this test? Much of our craving is largely unconscious and quite subtle. It needn't be a gross addiction.
If you don't pass the test don't worry. From a Buddhist perspective we are all considered more or less neurotic, some more, some less, till we become Enlightened. The Buddha himself is actually on record as saying we're all mad till we're Enlightened! To overcome the illness, to achieve healing, medicine needs to be taken. And we can only take it ourselves and willingly. It's a bit like the old saying Physician heal thyself. The medicine in Buddhism is the comprehensive Eightfold Path.

The Threefold Path (9/7/99):
The Fourth Noble Truth, as we have seen, is a comprehensive prescription (to continue the medical analogy) for the overcoming of suffering. It is the cure, the process necessary for healing known as The Noble Eightfold Path. However, it does require effort and it is challenging because it's the methodology to be deployed to extinguish craving. It is so named because if trodden it guarantees the practitioner the permanent end of suffering and residence in the Noble realm of Nirvana. This is a state of everlasting peace, freedom and happiness considered by Buddhism as attainable in this life itself.
The Eightfold Path describes a way to live, think and meditate which will enable a person to bring the unsatisfactoriness inherent in life (dukkha) to an end. It's accomplished by a gradual and interconnected practice of eight aspects of mainly mental training. The Path could be described as one of 'living meditation' that leads to a gradual slowing down, calming down and eventual cessation of a person's delusions that cause suffering in the first place.
Each of the stages of the Eightfold Path are prefixed with the Sanskrit word Samyag which means 'proper', 'wholesome', 'thorough', 'integral', 'complete', 'perfect'. However, it is very commonly translated as 'right', which has the unfortunate implication in the west of right versus wrong, which it is not meant to have. So I'll use both translations. The Path is not so much a series of steps that must be followed one after the other, as a set of limbs each of which augments all of the others. They are 1) Right View/Complete Vision, 2) Right Intent/Complete Emotion, 3) Right/Complete Speech, 4) Right/Complete Action, 5) Right/Complete Livelihood, 6) Right /Complete Effort, 7) Right /Complete Mindfulness and 8) Right Meditation/Complete Concentration (Samadhi).
There are two 'short-hand' versions of the Path as well. One is twofold breaking it into the Path of Vision and the Path of Transformation. The Noble Eightfold Path starts with a View or Vision, without which it simply can not start. Unless a person has some sort of insight into the unsatisfactoriness of this life and the desire to end it, they won't start on the Path. For this reason not everyone comes to Buddhism. Once they have a heart-felt desire to end suffering then the Path of Transformation, which incorporates the seven other limbs, can begin to unfold. Not surprisingly this transformative path starts with the stage of Right Intent or Complete Emotion.
The Threefold Path, which will be elaborated over the next few weeks, consists of 1) Ethics, 2) Meditation and 3) Wisdom or Insight. Ethics subsumes the stage of Complete Speech, Action and Livelihood in the Eightfold Path. Meditation subsumes Complete Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration and Wisdom, Complete Vision and Emotion. Again all three stages of this Threefold Path augment and reinforce each other.

The Path of Ethics (14/799):
The Threefold Path mentioned last week starts with ethical practice. Buddhist ethics is concerned primarily with the motivational states of the mind. The Law of Karma, which states that any conscious mental decision will result in repercussions - the fruits of karma, governs this realm. Actions cause consequences. This type of karma is to be distinguished from the Hindu version where any act has repercussions on the individual. In Buddhism only consciously motivated volitional decisions have consequences. If one accidentally runs over a dog in a car (as opposed to consciously deciding to) it doesn't generate karmic consequences whereas in Hinduism it does. Any thought, word or deed that is motivated by 'the three poisons'(craving, ill will and delusion) is considered unskilful (akausalya) because it will not be conducive to spiritual development or self-transcendence. Motives and actions grounded in loving kindness, generosity and clarity of mind, in so far as they are conducive to self-transcendence and thus spiritual development, are considered ethically skilful (kausalya). The words 'skilful' and 'unskilful' are used rather than 'right' and 'wrong', which imply a divine absolute.
Buddhists everywhere practice a minimum of five basic ethical precepts (panca-sila). Put simply they consist of refraining from killing, stealing/exploitation, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication from drugs to the point where mindfulness is lost. The opposite traits of loving kindness, generosity, contentment, truthfulness and clarity of mind are encouraged and also taken as precepts. The basic ethical principle threading through all the precepts is non-violence (ahisma). The first three cover the deeds or acts performed by the physical body, the fourth covers speech and the fifth covers the mind; thoughts, words and deeds. They also address the three poisons in the sense of undertaking to avoid craving, aggression and confusion and cultivating the opposite states of mind. The ethical precepts in Buddhism are aimed to encourage the unenlightened, developing practitioner to behave as an enlightened being. They also act as safe guards for them because they may not have yet developed the clarity of mind through meditation to distinguish clearly just what the real motives and volitions are that are going on in their minds. It must be emphasized, however, that the ethical precepts of Buddhism are recommendations and guidelines rather than a set off commandments delivered by a God which must be obeyed or else! By adhering to them a person is giving himself or herself a fighting chance of not acting unethically.
Another important reason the ethical code is practiced is, as in accordance with the Law of Conditionality, because they help set up the conditions necessary for successful meditation. A mind dominated by craving, anger or confusion can't achieve the calmness, happiness and concentration (psychological integration) necessary for successful meditative absorption (dhyana).

Ethics and Happiness (26/7/99):
The five ethical precepts practised by Buddhists (discussed last week) in a sense imitate the spontaneous, virtuous behaviour of an Enlightened being. The two primary virtues in Buddhism are Wisdom and Compassion. So the ethical precepts reject violence and the Power Mode, which uses other people and beings. Instead they endorse the Love Mode, which empathises with and cares for the Other. In English the five precepts are as follows:
1) I undertake to abstain from taking life. 2) I undertake to abstain from taking the not-given. 3) I undertake to abstain from sexual misconduct. 4) I undertake to abstain from false speech. 5) I undertake to abstain from becoming intoxicated.
The positive counterparts are stated as follows:
1) With deeds of loving kindness, I purify my body. 2) With open-handed generosity, I purify my body. 3) With stillness, simplicity and contentment, I purify my body. 4) With truthful communication, I purify my speech. 5) With mindfulness clear and radiant, I purify my mind.
As you can see the positive precepts endorse the opposite mental states to those found in the negative form of the five precepts (negative in the sense of undertaking not to do something).
So the practice of the ethical precepts in Buddhism results in sensitive and harmonious behaviour toward the Other as the result of skilful mental states. Ethical behaviour, in turn, produces skilful mental states. In Buddhism an ethical lifestyle is seen to be a necessary prerequisite for happiness. Happiness doesn't necessarily mean feeling elated with joy (which can easily collapse into the opposite)-it seems to have more to do with an absence of inner conflict and guilt, and a feeling of contentment. Ethical behaviour in this sense is about doing things that promote positive states of mind. As part of the Threefold Path, Ethics therefore also sets up the right conditions for Meditation. It really is only possible to concentrate with ease when you are happy. A concentrated person is a happy person; a happy person is a concentrated person. So there are important connections between ethics, happiness and concentration. These factors also effect your effectiveness in life.

Ethics and Happiness (30/7/99):
As we saw last week, the practice of the ethical precepts in Buddhism results in sensitive and harmonious behaviour toward the Other as the result of skilful mental states and motivations. However, the practice of ethical behaviour, in turn, helps produce skilful mental states. In Buddhism an ethical lifestyle is seen to be a necessary prerequisite for happiness. Happiness doesn't necessarily mean feeling elated with joy (which can easily collapse into the opposite)-it seems to have more to do with an absence of inner conflict and guilt, and a feeling of contentment.
Ethical behaviour in this sense is about doing things that promote positive states of mind. Behaviour or action in Buddhism is thought of as involving the body (eg., hitting someone, taking something), speech and the mind. If you look at the five ethical precepts that all Buddhists practice as a minimum, they cover the body, speech and mind. Sometimes this is rendered as thoughts, words and deeds. Precepts one to three cover actions with the body, the fourth speech and the fifth the mind. Even if you do not actually hit someone, therefore, but still give rise to the ill will toward that person behind it in your mind, then you have acted unskilfully in Buddhism. All actions have consequences. For example, an angry mind is not happy or peaceful. Thus it is hard for it to concentrate or meditate.
As part of the Threefold Path, Ethics therefore also sets up the right conditions for Meditation. It really is only possible to concentrate with ease when you are happy. A concentrated person is a happy person; a happy person is a concentrated person. So there are important connections between ethics, happiness and concentration. These factors also effect your effectiveness in life.

Going Back to Spiritual Kindergarten
As part of the Threefold Path, Ethics sets up the right conditions for Meditation. It really is only possible to concentrate with ease when you are happy. And we tend to be happy and guilt free when we practice an ethical lifestyle. The next stage of the Threefold Path is meditation. Meditation in turn sets up the right conditions for Insight into Reality or Wisdom.
Many Westerners come into the Buddhist Path in a back-the-front type of fashion. They tend to start with the Wisdom/Insight aspect, but only at the intellectual level, most commonly by reading books on Buddhism. There are so many books on Buddhism these days. Despite being very interested in the philosophy, and reading widely in it, they find that they aren't changed by it. So they start to meditate but, because they are partying to all hours, over indulging in intoxicants, giving into hedonistic craving, sleeping in, and so on, their meditation practice is irregular and going nowhere. Their minds aren't peaceful and contented enough to make effective concentration possible. It's not until some form of disciplined and ethical lifestyle is established that progress in meditation becomes possible. This has been referred to this as going back to the spiritual kindergarten!
Buddhism teaches many forms of meditation, there are literally thousands of practices. Traditionally, Buddhist meditation is divided into two types, samatha and vipassana, or tranquillity and insight. Tranquillity meditation practices prepare the mind for insight by purifying, integrating and refining it. Insight meditation is the application of the mind, made subtle and concentrated by tranquillity meditation, to perceive the true nature of reality. To see things how they really are. Our ordinary mind is unconcentrated. In Buddhist texts there is frequent reference to the idea that 'one who is concentrated sees things as they really are.' This is how meditation sets up the right conditions for the third part of the Threefold Path.

Meditation in Buddhism (12/8):
Continuing our review of the Threefold Path in Buddhism, we've seen to date that the first stage, Ethics, sets up the right conditions for successful meditation. Meditation is the second phase of this path. It subsumes Right or Perfect Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration-the last three aspects of the Eightfold Path. We'll return to them in a future issue.
In essence meditation in Buddhism is working directly on one's own mind. Remember the starting point of Buddhism is the human mind. So we do not meditate just to relax or cope with stress, although these are welcome by products of the practice. Last week we talked of the two great traditions in Buddhist meditation of samatha (tranquillity) and vipassana (insight). Samatha practices aim at making us more calm, tranquil and concentrated so that we can see things as they really are and thus gain insight into Reality.
The reason we don't see reality, or things as they really are, is because we are un-concentrated. Our minds are preoccupied and chronically distracted by discursive thoughts and a cavalcade of emotional reactions to things and events. Most of these if dug into reveal themselves to be concerned with our desires and longings and the frustrations of not satisfying them. There is thus a subjective filter, based on our egocentric view and our likes and dislikes, between us and how things actually are. Our view of things is clouded.
The aim of meditation is to purify the mind in the sense of clearing away these clouds of subjective distortion. To do this all the scattered energies within our psyches have to become integrated so that they are pulling together. The chaos in our conscious mind is mightily reinforced by the turmoil in our unconscious and all of this erupts in the mind to cloud it. These scattered energies can't be integrated until we become aware of them, or conscious of them. This is the aim of meditation.
Once we're aware or conscious of what's going on in our conscious mind and in the unconscious we're in charge of ourselves. Things calm down and a hitherto unknown state of tranquillity can be experienced. Once this happens we're on the way to seeing things as they are.

Meditation-a Unity Experience (20/8/99):
We established at the beginning of this series of articles, that as human beings we experience ourselves as separate from everything else. This is a by-product of the unique human faculty of self-consciousness. We are in fact not separate from the environment and human society so the experience of separation is apparent rather than real. To mistake it for a reality, as we tend to do, is a fundamental delusion from a Buddhist point of view. When we do, it creates a deep sense of existential unease in us and that's why we get caught up in craving for pleasant things to secure ourselves. We feel incomplete and deep down seek a unity with all things.
One function of meditation is to help overcome this experience of separation and achieve unity. But ironically it starts off based on the experience of separation. The fact that we can reason and make choices is because we can separate ourselves out from ourselves-there is the 'reasoner' and what is being reasoned about. So we use this ability to convince ourselves of the desirability of meditating and then choose to sit down and meditate. Without this meditation cannot begin, so again it's a uniquely human enterprise. Once we start meditating on an object-the breath, an emotion, a candle-we are actually in an acute state of separation. There is you sitting there observing and concentrating and there is the thing you're concentrating on.
Paradoxically, if we persist then the separation disappears and we become 'one' with the object. So human beings are capable of both giving rise to an experience of separation and of unity. Furthermore, once enlightened they are capable of experiencing both of these states simultaneously. Next week we will talk about how the unity experience in meditation is one of integrating all our scattered conscious and unconscious energies and how this in turn gives rise to higher states of consciousness.

Meditation and Integration (26/8/99):
There are two aspects to integration in meditation-a horizontal and a vertical one. Horizontal integration refers to the collecting together of our psychic energies in the conscious mind. Vertical is about integrating the energies of the unconscious with the conscious mind.
Usually we are in a chronic state of distraction in our conscious minds. Our thoughts and emotions are all over the place and we are not very aware of them. So horizontal integration is about developing more self-awareness of what is going on in our conscious minds. In this way we become more aware of what we're feeling and thinking. Usually our energies are scattered and we are driven from one mental state to another at the mercy of our thoughts and emotions. They in turn are usually simple reactions to external stimulants of one kind or another. In this state we are scattered and reactive; in what you might call the guest rather than the host position in our own minds.
Meditation practices like the 'Mindfulness of Breathing' (annapanna sati) help to develop more calm, more integration and self-awareness. In Buddhism this is called mindfulness and is very important indeed. It helps us become the host in our own minds by creating a strong centre of self-awareness that is, as it were, the master of ceremonies, or the shepherd that rounds up the rest of the herd and moves them in the right direction. Mindfulness helps to focus and channel our previously scattered mental energies. In this way we can become creative in our response to circumstances instead of merely reactive.
Given that the unconscious is the bulk of our psyche it is incredibly important that we also integrate that into our conscious minds. It has been likened in psychology to an iceberg. The vast bulk of it is under the surface of the water (unconscious). The small bit above the surface is the conscious mind. Often the energies of the unconscious are pulling us in a very different direction to the one in which we want to go in our conscious minds. So, from a Buddhist point of view, no real psychological or spiritual growth is possible unless we harness these energies behind our conscious aspirations. More about the role of meditation in achieving this next week.

Meditation and the Unconscious 3/9/99:
Last week we looked at the notion of meditation and horizontal integration. This means the shepherding together of our scattered mental energies in the conscious mind so that we are more self-aware or mindful, and capable of more concentration and focus. Today we look at vertical integration, the process of bringing more and more of the depths of our unconscious mind into consciousness.
It's not easy. The Buddha himself acknowledged that control of the mind is the most challenging and the most rewarding of human tasks, and did not underestimate its difficulties. The mind has a depth, he suggested, far greater than the deepest sea, and all the way down it churns with powerful emotional currents and vortices of which we are barely conscious, but which virtually dictate thought and behaviour. In its depths lie untapped sources of great power: desires and drives of such magnitude that the mind is rarely under any control; it simply moves about as it likes. To train these forces to obey the conscious will is the only way to be free of the mind's evolutionary inherited urges and predisposition's. The method for training the mind is meditation, said the Buddha.
As the forces of our conscious and unconscious minds become integrated through the process of focused, conscious self-awareness (which is meditation) we experience higher states of consciousness. These traditionally are known as the dhyanas or levels of meditative absorption in Buddhism. They are higher levels of concentration in the sense of being beyond our normal waking consciousness, which is scattered, un-integrated, full of discursive thought and a kaleidoscope of emotions. The dhyanas are much more lucid, concentrated and peaceful. In a word they're more integrated. Indeed they result from our psycho-physical energies becoming more integrated. The level of meditative absorption or the state of higher consciousness is a function of this.
More about these next week. But one last point is that meditative states are not to be confused with child-like states, trances, blank or induced hypnotic states where there is a total absence of self-awareness. They can't be because they are states of greater and more concentrated self-awareness.

Higher States of Consciousness (9/9/99):
The levels of meditative absorption you get into when you meditate, as we saw, are known as the dhyanas. They are levels of progressively higher states of consciousness because our psycho-physical energies have become more integrated and focused compared to our normal, 'waking' level of consciousness. A great deal of mental and physical tension is released as our energies begin to flow together and hence they are accompanied by intense rapture, bliss and equanimity. Traditionally there are considered to be eight dhyanas.
The Buddha used four symbolic descriptions to characterise the first four dhyanas. The first he likened to a situation in which soap powder and water are mixed to make a cake of soap. The soap powder is completely suffused with water and all the water is absorbed into the powder. The second he likened to a calm pool of water with a deep subterranean spring bubbling up into it. The third was like a perfectly still pond in which a lotus plant had fully blossomed so that its petals were completely permeated by water at the surface of the pond. The last was like a person who had stepped out of a tank of water after bathing and was wrapping themselves in a dazzling, white towel.
I wonder if you can deduce what the symbols represent? Maybe just close your eyes for a moment and call up the images and reflect on their meanings. The first represents what we have been calling horizontal integration - the coming together of all the conscious mind's energies. The second is vertical integration as the unconscious wells up into the conscious mind, which is now like a still pond. The third is a state of complete permeation of the mind conscious and unconscious as their full integration has flowered. The last reflects the fact that when such total integration of psychic energies has occurred there is a palpable radiation of energy from the person out into the environment.
The next six week Introductory Buddhist meditation courses commence at the Buddhist Centre at 23 Bridge Street on Tuesday night the 21st of September 7-9pm and during the day on Thursday the 23rd September 10-12am.

Mental States in Meditation 16/9/99:
Last week we looked at the Buddha's symbolic description of the first four levels of meditative absorption. These higher levels of consciousness are referred to traditionally as the dhyanas. Again tradition enumerates five positive mental states accompanying the dhyanas known as the 'dhyana factors' (dhyananga). Dhyana does not consist only of these factors but contains other positive qualities too.
All five are present in the first dhyana and they are initial thought, applied thought, rapture, bliss and one-pointedness. One-pointedness is present in all the dhyanas because it is our ability to concentrate, focus and pay attention. It becomes much stronger in the dhyanas. Initial thought is thinking 'of' something and applied thought is thinking 'about' something. However, unlike our normal scattered, discursive thinking, this type of thought in the first dhyana is very lucid and completely under our conscious control.
Rapture is the experience of the physical enervation's accompanying the process of integration of our psycho-physical energies. It's sometimes referred to as tension release. As the body releases its tensions we experience 'goose pimples', hairs standing on end, shocks of rapture and then intense waves of rapture. Bliss is more subtle than rapture and occurs as the enervation's of rapture calm down. In it's own quite way it is even more intense.
From the second dhyana on there is no more thought. In the second there is rapture, bliss and one-pointedness present. In the third there is bliss and one-pointedness. In the fourth there is only one-pointedness but because this complete concentration is suffused with bliss it becomes known as equanimity. So the dhyana factors are both 'cool' in the sense of increased concentration as in one-pointedness, initial and applied thought and 'warm' in the sense of positive emotion-rapture, bliss and equanimity.
An introduction to traditional Buddhist meditation class has started this week at the Buddhist centre (23 Bridge Street) on Tuesday evening 7-9pm and Thursday morning 10-12am.

A Good Meditation 24/9/99:
If we experience the dhyanas or higher states of consciousness whilst meditating then obviously this is a good or successful meditation. We become aware that our normal, 'taken for granted' level of consciousness is not the full story. That our normal, ego-centric experience is not the definitive one. In other words, we become aware that there is something to us way beyond the usual experience of self. The possibility of self-transcendence arises.
However, more often than not, we do not experience the dhyanas; we do not become absorbed in the object of concentration as we meditate. We do not experience the higher states of consciousness. This is because certain unskilful mental states arise that prevent or 'hinder' us from becoming absorbed or concentrated. Traditionally they are known in Buddhism as the 'five hindrances'.
Before we describe them the main point to be made in this article is that if we spend the whole of our meditation sit wrestling with these hindrances, applying the traditional antidotes, this is also considered a good or successful meditation. In this way, Buddhist meditation-the mind working directly on the mind-is quite different from other forms of meditation. If we become absorbed, concentrated and experience the dhyanas that's good. If we don't and spend the whole time working with the hindrances that's also good.
The five hindrances are craving for sense pleasure, ill will, restlessness and anxiety, sloth and torpor and indecision and doubt. In a way they are an elaboration of the three poisons-craving, ill will and delusion (or confusion). Inevitably as we become more aware of what is going on in our conscious and unconscious minds (horizontal and vertical integration) we will experience these hindrances. They are there in us inherited from our past actions and habit tendencies and they underpin the mental states that distract us from becoming concentrated. We are the hindrances and will have to deal with them through meditation if we are to progress.
Next week we investigate the traditional antidotes to apply to the five hindrances.

The Five Mental Hindrances (1/10/99):
The last couple of weeks we've been talking about the higher states of consciousness known as the dhyanas accessible through meditation. The first level of meditative absorption (dhyana) is characterised by the absence of negative emotions. We're going to elaborate on the nature of the five mental hindrances shortly. Unless the mind is clear not only of the five mental hindrances but also of fear, anger, jealousy, anxiety, guilt, remorse, at least for the time being, there is no entry into the higher states of consciousness. They have to be eradicated or suspended to achieve them. That is why the path of ethics described over preceding weeks is the necessary prerequisite for effective meditation.
The first of the five hindrances is desire for sense experience (kamma chandra). Our minds instead of concentrating on the meditation object (say the breath) keep getting drawn to sense objects through any of the six senses such as, sounds, smells or colours. But it also includes images and attractive thoughts, which are objects of what in Buddhism is known as the sixth sense, the mental sense. The traditional image of this hindrance is again water obscured by coloured balls.
The second hindrance is ill will (vyapada). This is actually the reverse side of desire for pleasant experiences because it wills or desires ill for something. Our minds this time get caught up in some painful experience. They are drawn towards some irritating event or person and we can't stop thinking about it or resenting it. Perhaps there is some external sound or smell that is irritating us. It's practically impossible to get away from sound when one meditates so it's a common experience to find one's mind reacting irritably to sounds. The traditional image is of water boiling and hissing. In these two hindrances we are strongly caught up in the object; this is less the case in the next three.
Over the next couple of weeks we'll outline the next three hindrances, investigate the traditional antidotes to apply to the five hindrances and how the hindrances are there outside of meditation as well.

The Hindrances Continued (8/10/99):
As we saw last week the first two hindrances to becoming absorbed or concentrated in meditation are desire for sense experience (kamma chandra) and ill will (vyapada). The third hindrance is restlessness (uddhacca) and anxiety (kukucca). Restlessness is physical restlessness and turbulence; anxiety is more mental-usually some form of irrational, discursive thought. Together they make us too 'speedy' and obviously distract us from being able to concentrate.
The traditional image is water chopped up into waves by the wind.
The fourth hindrance is sloth and torpor, the two aspects being physical sloth (thina) and mental torpor (middha). The body feels heavy and the mind vacuous. The combined result is drowsiness and before we know it we've tipped forward off our meditation cushions as we briefly fall asleep. When sloth and torpor gets a grip on us it feels almost impossible to shake off. The traditional image is stagnant water choked with mud and reeds. Again both these hindrances are two sides of the same coin and we can oscillate between them.
The final one is doubt (vicikicchai) and indecision. We start to doubt ourselves, the meditation practice, and whether we really can get anywhere in terms of our spiritual growth. As a result we have very little conviction or commitment to meditate. We sit there caught up in a crisis of doubt and lack of involvement in the practice. This image is turbid water, water with a great deal of sediment in suspension.
So these negative mental factors prevent us from becoming concentrated in our meditation session. They will inevitably arise for all who meditate because they are originate in mental tendencies, impulses and predispositions that have become habitual because they were built up over long periods of time. However, there are in Buddhism traditional antidotes to the five hindrances, but before we can apply them we have to recognise or acknowledge that we are caught up in a hindrance. This is a crucial step and failure to do it means the antidotes cannot be applied.

The Antidotes to the Hindrances (15/10/99):
The first step in working on the hindrances is to acknowledge that the hindrance is actually there. It's no good carrying on meditating regardless, trying to ignore it or wish it away. In meditation you need to acknowledge each new mental state as it arises-that's what self-awareness is. So in terms of the hindrances this means to recognise which of the five mental hindrances (discussed over the last two weeks) it is.
Is it desire for sense experience, ill will, restlessness and anxiety, sloth and torpor, or doubt and indecision that is preventing you from deepening your concentration? To be able to recognise which hindrance is present in your mind takes time and practice. Meditation like any other skill requires practice and the more you do it the better you become at it. You will become not only more adept at concentrating but more aware of the nature of the mental events arising in your mind and whether they are skilful or unskilful.
It is after all a process of gaining self-knowledge by looking within. But for most of us this type of activity is unfamiliar, we are chartering unfamiliar waters, and so inevitably it involves a learning curve. It's a bit like the situation alluded to in the old western mottoes of 'Know thyself' and 'Physician heal thyself'.
The traditional Buddhist antidotes that are used to work with the hindrances, after the all-important step of recognition (self-awareness), are fourfold. They are 1) to consider the consequences of remaining in that state, 2) cultivating the opposite, 3) developing a sky-like attitude and 4) suppression. We'll elaborate on them next week.
A combined 'drop in' introductory Buddhist meditation class and brief introductory talk on Buddhism will be held at the Toowoomba Buddhist Centre on Saturday the 23rd of October. The meditation will be between 11am and 12am and the talk between 12 and 1pm.

The Antidotes to the Hindrances (22/10/99):
After acknowledging the existence of the hindrance, that it is actually present, interfering with our meditative concentration, we can apply the traditional antidotes. The first of these is to consider the consequences of allowing the hindrance to continue unchecked. What if we simply do nothing and allow the tendency to distraction, to hatred or to doubt to remain? Clearly, it would increase and our character would become progressively dominated by that trait. If we reflect on this, the importance of what we're trying to do will become clearer and we'll be more inclined to ignore the hindrance and turn our minds back to what we're concentrating on.
The second antidote is to cultivate the opposite quality. If there is anger cultivate loving-kindness (metta). If there is doubt cultivate confidence. If there is sloth cultivate energy. If there is restlessness, cultivate contentment and peace. If the mind is too tense relax it; if it's too loose sharpen it. So we try and cultivate the opposite quality to the negative mental state that's interfering with our concentration to overcome or neutralise it.
The third is to cultivate a sky-like attitude. Sometimes the more we resist a hindrance the stronger it gets. If the previous two methods don't work, we try the 'sky-like' attitude. We accept that the hindrance has 'got in' and we simply observe it like a cloud in a vast blue sky. In this way we give it some space and allow it to play itself out. By watching it and not getting involved we allow the fantasies, worries, the images to arise and dissolve. Gradually they lose their power and disperse.
Finally there is suppression. We simply push the hindrance out of our minds or 'leap frog' over it back to our concentration.. This is different from repression, which is unconsciously pushing something down into our unconscious. This antidote is a last resort. We are convinced of the pointlessness of playing host to the hindrance and we simply say 'no' and push it aside. It's best used with weak hindrances. With stronger ones, even if we suppress them, we eventually have to come back and deal with them.

Effort and Mindfulness (29/10/99):
The stage of meditation in the Threefold path subsumes the stages of Perfect Effort, Perfect Mindfulness and Perfect Meditation in the Eightfold path. Over the last few weeks we've been looking at meditation and this would not be complete if we didn't refer to effort and mindfulness.
Of course, any attempt at growth requires effort-unremitting effort. We may fail again and again, but that doesn't matter so much. The important thing is that we make the effort, we try. Each time we fail we just have to pick ourselves up and try again. Apparently there is a n old Sufi poem that goes something like this: Come, come, no matter how many times you've broken the precepts, come, come.
Often when we fail we tend to wallow in irrational guilt and shame. The danger with this is that we end up reinforcing a fixed view of ourselves that will prevent us from trying to grow. Then the gravitational pull of inertia comes in and pulls us down. If we don't continue to make the effort, despite having failed, no growth is possible. We have to realise that thinking we are a failure and dwelling on a negative view of ourselves is just as fixed and conceited as thinking that we're great and having an over-inflated view of ourselves. There is potentially a much larger self we can experience, however, we never will if we stick to these lesser fixed views of our self. We have to get beyond them.
It is difficult work. But it's a bit like the speck of dust in an oyster that becomes a pearl. In the same way these irritating (dukkha) aspects of life can provide the stimulus for personal evolution. In many ways it's the same thing as working with the hindrances-each time we become distracted we have to work with the hindrance and then return our attention to the object of concentration. That requires effort.

Right Effort (5/11/99):
At the moment we are talking about Right or Complete Effort. This is the sixth stage of the Eightfold Path and part of the Meditation section of the Threefold Path. Traditionally in Buddhism the formula for Complete or Perfect Effort consists of the following four dimensions. 1) The prevention of the arising of unskilful mental states that have not yet arisen. 2) The eradication of unskilful mental states that have already arisen. 3) The development of skilful mental states that have not yet arisen. 4) The maintenance of skilful mental states already arisen.
These days sometimes the first and second steps are reversed because more often than not we find ourselves already in unskilful mental states. Just to remind you unskilful mental states are those motivated by greed, anger and confusion (the three poisons). Skilful ones are based on generosity, loving kindness and mental clarity.
Traditionally the first effort is carried out by 'guarding the gates of the senses'. Through mindful self-awareness we attempt to maintain awareness of what is coming in through our six senses (in Buddhism the mind is considered to be the sixth sense and mental factors the objects of this sense). It's often likened to the historical role of a sentry at the city gates observing what is coming in. The main thing is to be aware of how our minds are reacting to these sensory stimuli and whether they are unskilful reactions or skilful, creative responses.
We achieve the second effort of eradicating unskilful states that have arisen by applying the antidotes to the hindrances discussed over the last couple of weeks. The best way to perform the third effort of developing skilful mental states is considered to be by meditating. The fourth effort of maintaining these is achieved through perseverance. That is, to use a fashionable word, by sustaining a regular practice.

Mindfulness (11/12/99):
I think the Threefold Path is an excellent formula for the practice of Buddhism in contemporary society. It consists of the practice of Ethics and Meditation with a view to gaining Insight into the nature of Reality. Mindfulness is the next aspect of the Meditation part of the Threefold Path. It is a very important part of this path, in my opinion, and yet it can be neglected by practising Buddhists.
The Buddha is on record as saying that if you can maintain Mindfulness uninterrupted for seven days you will achieve nirvana (the extinguishing of craving-the goal of the Buddhist path) here and now, or at least the point of non-return (from which you cannot slip back and so are guaranteed to gain Enlightenment). A pretty potent recommendation for practising mindfulness.
In formal, sitting meditation you're deepening your knowledge of yourself and developing more integration and tranquillity. This is known as samatha. With mindfulness you then spread this samatha (tranquillity, calmness and integration) into your daily activities and encounters with the environment (human and non-human). So it's like broadening the vertical work of meditation into a more horizontal spreading out of peacefulness and sensitivity into the world. You're creating a 'ripple-like' effect.
However, too often people who meditate tend to 'clock-off' after the formal sit. They become just as un-mindful as other people do. Being unmindful could be described as being forgetful, distracted, having only weak powers of concentration and no sense of continuity of purpose in what you're doing. The word for mindfulness in Pali is sati and as well as having the connotation of 'awareness', it also means 'recollection' and 'memory'.
So to be mindful means to be in a state recollection as opposed to forgetful. You remember who you are and what you're doing and why you're doing it! Furthermore, it's a state of undistractedness, concentration and steadfastness of purpose. One could say that it is also a state of more true individuality because these elements of mindfulness when present allow one to take responsibility for their lives and thus to grow as an individual. When being unmindful we are merely a bundle of conflicting selves reacting to the world.
An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy course of six weeks starts at the Toowoomba Buddhist Centre, this Thursday morning (18/11/99) at 10am in lieu of the SQIT course, which was cancelled this term.

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness (19/11/99):
In traditional mindfulness practice we start with the self. We bring the self to the self. So often these days, because of the pressure of work, stress and stimulus overload, people get so 'speedy' that they by-pass themselves. The traditional practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (sati) is a way of bringing us back into contact with ourselves.
Let's take an every day example. We come home from work, or looking after the kids, and we feel at one and the same time completely exhausted and yet 'het up'. I'm sure we've all experienced this condition. People in this condition often head straight for the pub after work to relax and wind down. Studies have shown that, because they're not really in touch with themselves, they tend to throw back the drinks, their blood sugar levels rise and as a result, after awhile, they feel energetic, even 'high'. They feel that now they've wound down and relaxed. Actually it's just the raised blood sugar levels and the studies conclude that this type of situation could lead to problem drinking.
Let's say that instead we come home and 'do' the four foundations. We sit down or lie down and start with being mindful of the body. We deliberately become aware of our body, its position and movement. We scan through it with our awareness and relax any tension we discover, perhaps starting with the forehead, eyes, mouth, jaw and gradually work our way through the whole body. By doing this we're getting out of our heads and our fast moving thoughts and emotions and contacting the slowest moving part of ourselves, the body. In this way we 'ground' ourselves back in ourselves.
The second foundation is to then become aware of physiological sensations or feelings and whether they are painful, pleasant or neutral and whether they're strong or weak. The third is to spend a few minutes becoming aware of our emotional tone by directly experiencing it (not analysing it). Are we happy, unhappy, tired, anxious, frenetic and so on? So now we've shifted our awareness to the faster moving parts of ourselves. Finally we become aware of our thoughts and what is going on in our thinking mind.
To go back to our example, by doing this, by bringing ourselves to ourselves, we usually discover that under the speedy, het up feeling we're actually exhausted. We may even start to feel sleepy and actually have a rest or nap. If, after doing this, we still feel inclined to go to the pub for a drink (in moderation), we find that we don't feel the need to throw them back. Instead we have a few in a steady, mindful way and avoid the problem drinking.

Mindfulness in Everyday Living (26/11/99):
Generally speaking our actions are impulsive. Desires are immediately translated into deeds, without a thought being given to the consequences or whether they're skilful or not. When we act with mindfulness, however, we analyse our motives before allowing them to determine conduct. What follows from this are not only the abstention from unskilful courses of action but also the acquisition of an undisturbed and tranquil state of mind.
If we undertake even the most commonplace activities of life in a clearly conscious manner, we introduce space or a pause between our thoughts or intentions and the execution of the deed. Within this interval our unwholesome impulses expend their force. With the practice of mindfulness the tempo of our day to day existence slows down. Behaviour becomes smoother, slower, more sensitive and more deliberate. These days people are under too much pressure and rush too much. One of the secrets of longevity is not to rush through life but to slow down and keep the mind peaceful. One result of mindfulness is bodily composure and gracefulness. This in return conduces to an ever-deeper quietness of spirit.
Through the practice of mindfulness and self-possession the most trivial occasions of life
become part of a spiritual practice. Eating, drinking, dressing, the processes of excretion and urination even, are transformed from hindrances into aids to concentration, from interruptions to the spiritual life to its continuation in another form. The distinction between things sacred and profane becomes obliterated.
When one is behaving ethically and clear consciousness is established in all activities, then not a minute is wasted from dawn till dusk. From morning till night the current of spiritual development continues uninterrupted. Even in sleep, if the practice is intense enough, the clear consciousness still shines even as the moon does in the darkness of night.

Ways of Practising Mindfulness (3/12/99):
We can extend the practice of mindfulness into the daily arena of living in many ways. The Buddha, for example, spoke of practising mindfulness and self-possession whilst advancing or withdrawing; in looking forward or around; in bending and stretching the limbs; in dressing and wearing clothes; in eating, drinking, masticating, and tasting; in answering the calls of nature; in walking, standing and sitting; in sleeping and waking; and, in speaking and keeping silence. One could also add in dealing with objects.
In this way even the most mundane activities can become delightful routines of incredible precision. These days their exists a modern terminology that talks of body ballets, time-space routines, place choreographys and place ballets. Body ballets are sets of gestures and movements which sustain a particular task, such as, washing up, dressing, sweeping the floor, ploughing, house building and gardening. Time-space routines are habitual bodily behaviours in time and space like bathing, sewing and cooking. Place ballets extend time-space routines and body ballets into all types of environments - indoors, outdoors, streets, neighbourhoods, market places, cafes and transport depots. Most of the time these activities are carried out in a mechanical and distracted fashion, yet in all them there are opportunities for practice.
Another model speaks of four levels of awareness. 1) Awareness of ourselves using the four foundations of mindfulness to bring ourselves into contact with ourselves. That is awareness of the body and its movements, of sensations or feelings, of our emotional state, and of our thoughts. Then we can extend the mindfulness to 2) awareness of Things or the Environment. Then there is 3) awareness of Others. Finally, there is 4) awareness of Reality. We'll talk more about these four levels next week.
A 'drop in' meditation class consisting of a led practice of the Metta Bhavana practice which is about generating loving-kindness (metta) for oneself and others will be held at the TBC on Saturday the 11th of December at 11am.

Awareness of the Self (13/12/99):

As one's practice of the Buddha Dharma deepens one attempts to maintain a degree of self-awareness and self-possession all the time. Traditionally it's spoken of in terms of awareness of the body and its movements, of sensations or feelings, of our emotional state, and of our thoughts. So a practising Buddhist is continuously monitoring their psycho-physical states. This is the only way we can transform our mental, verbal and bodily actions from mere, unskilful reactions to circumstances to creative responses. This is the only way we can break out of the reactive pattern of conditionality that drives us round and round in circles-what Buddhists refer to as the 'Wheel of Life'.
To maintain self-awareness like this may sound a tall order. However, the more you practise it the easier it becomes; as with any skill in life it takes practice. Buddhism is an applied practice; it's a voluntarily undertaken, personal training or education program. One reason why we recommend 'Mindfulness of Breathing' as a foundation meditation practice is simply because it helps you to become more mindful, to be able to focus your mind and concentrate. Something people are finding increasingly difficult to do these days. One of the main objectives of starting a daily meditation practice is to simply develop more concentration and mindfulness!
So we try and be aware of ourselves all the time. But not in an alienated way! Not by stepping outside of ourselves and watching ourselves from the outside. The danger of this is that we do not experience ourselves-this is alienation. To be mindful means to fill what we are observing or what we are doing with our mind.
Some people set the alarm on their watch to go off hourly to remind them to be mindful. Some times it's a good idea to do the practice of mindfulness more systematically. For example, just choosing to be mindful of the body and its postures for a day. This can actually be done as a formal meditation practice known as Mindfulness of Walking. Or you might decide on one particular day (or week) to concentrate on awareness of your emotional states, or speech or thoughts. In other circumstances it might be more appropriate to maintain a more panoramic form of mindfulness.

2000

Domains of Mindfulness (14/2/00):
I've been away for the whole of January hence the non-appearance of this column for that month. For a large part of that time I was on a long retreat in New Zealand. It was an intensive study retreat (although there was lots of meditation too) and provided me with a wonderful opportunity for spiritual nourishment and the chance to deepen spiritual friendships.
The theme of the retreat was the 'Transcendental Principle'-in many ways the goal of Buddhism. No doubt we'll touch on this issue in ensuing weeks. But for the time being we need to finish off our treatment of mindfulness.
Another four fold model of mindfulness consists of 1) awareness of oneself, through the four foundations of mindfulness-posture, sensations, emotions and thoughts. Then extending this awareness to 2) awareness of people, 3) awareness of things or the environment, and finally 4) awareness of Reality.
In this way the increased concentration and sensitivity developed in formal sitting meditation practice is extended out into the world and informs one's relationships with people and the environment. A practising Buddhist does not 'clock off (or ought not to) at the end of the period of sitting practice. Instead the awareness is carried over into these relationships making them more sensitive and ethical. Indeed it's possible to relate to one's immediate environment, defined as what one is conscious of from moment to moment, in this fashion. One could describe this as the bottom line of an individual's environmental responsibility. Because if everyone was doing this, that is relating sensitively, mindfully and ethically with other people and the environment, we wouldn't have social and environmental problems!
An Practical Buddhism course starts at the Toowoomba Buddhist Centre, next Tuesday (22/2/00 from 7pm-9pm) in lieu of the cancellation of the SQIT course 'The Buddhist Way of Personal Growth'.

The Path of Wisdom (18/2/00):
To continue our treatment of the Threefold Path in Buddhism (Ethics, Meditation, Wisdom) we now turn to the Wisdom or Insight stage. Over the last few months we've investigated Ethics and Meditation. We saw how the practice of ethics sets up the right conditions for successful meditation. Meditation in turn sets up the right conditions for Insight or Wisdom. Complete Wisdom in Buddhism is of course expressed as Enlightenment or Nirvana and involves what is often referred to as Transcendental Knowledge.
Prior to Enlightenment more partial Insights can occur building up to the bigger picture. Insight is an experience, and it yields experiential knowledge, not mere intellectual knowledge; it's known in the heart and as such is ineffable. The knowledge it brings cannot be denoted or captured through concepts or the words of any language. So in that sense the experience is impossible to describe or capture in words.
The Buddha did use language to indicate the nature of the experience. Also Buddhism itself has developed elaborate philosophies over its history that attempt to articulate the knowledge of Enlightenment. However, the approach is to gain the experiential knowledge first and then attempt to articulate it, albeit in a necessarily limited way at the conceptual level. One can't gain enlightenment by reasoning or intellectualising about it alone. This is one of the major differences between Western and Eastern philosophy, with the former believing it's possible to completely comprehend Reality through reasoning and the latter considering it impossible.
According to Buddhism one has to rise to a higher level of consciousness through meditation and use intuition to directly encounter Reality and know it. Thus meditation is the necessary step to see Reality (hence 'in' 'sight' - intuitive seeing). In fact Insight and even Enlightenment itself is most simply described in the tradition as 'seeing things as they are! We will elaborate on this theme next week.
Due to popular demand there is a possibility that an Practical Buddhism daytime course will start as well at the Toowoomba Buddhist Centre, next Thursday (24/2/00 ) in lieu of the cancellation of the SQIT course 'The Buddhist Way of Personal Growth'.

Seeing Things As They Are (25/2/00):
Traditionally Insight and Enlightenment have been described simply as seeing things as they are! The implication being that we don't perceive things as they are. As the result of a mixture of physiological and socialisation factors we 'construct' the world we perceive from an early age. For example, at the physiological level, we have two eyes at the front of our heads and so binocular vision is 'hard-wired' into us and as a result we can see three dimensionally. Through socialisation we are taught to label and thus separate things with names like 'me', 'you', 'table', 'chair', and so on.
The end result is that we perceive a world of seemingly separate phenomena spread out in space. We perceive ourselves as one object separate and apart from all the others. Furthermore we 'essentialise' things - we attribute permanent essences or a sense of solidity to the perceived phenomena. Finally, subjectively, we prefer certain things to others. Some give rise to pleasant sensations when we perceive them, others unpleasant repulsion, and others still neutral feelings.
Now in reality nothing is, as it seems. As modern ecology demonstrates, nothing exists independently of anything else. We cannot be separated from the air we breathe the water we drink or the food we eat. If we are for too long we actually go out of existence. We can't be separated even from other people. We depend on them for psychological support and guidance. Our education, our personalities and our self-image are all derived from our interactions with other people. Modern physics also demonstrates that far from being a world of solid objects it's all just a constant, dynamic, interactive flux of energy and matter.
The views of modern physics and ecology are congruent with those of ancient Buddhism. According to the latter, nothing is permanent and nothing is separate from anything else. All there is in Reality is impermanence and interrelationship. Moreover, nothing is actually better (in the subjective sense) than anything else, just different. But we try and live in the other world that we have constructed thinking we are separate and independent like other objects and pursuing the ones we like and trying to avoid the ones we don't and hoping for permanence in all our activities. As a consequence, because we have mis-matched Reality and the perceived world, according to Buddhism, we suffer - that's Reality. More next week.

The Three Characteristics of Conditioned Existence (3/3/00):
The real world of phenomenon, of which we are a part, is a conditioned world according to Buddhism. As we saw last week, modern ecology agrees in demonstrating that nothing exists independently of a set of conditions (eg., nutrients, air and water). These conditions ultimately link everything in the natural world together. According to the Teaching (Dharma) of the Buddha this conditioned existence has three characteristics (laksana): unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), impermanence (anicca) and insubstantiality (anatta).
Let's deal with them in reverse order because the second and third explain the first. Insubstantiality follows on from what we've just been saying. It means that in so far as no thing (nothing) or phenomenon can exist independently of anything else it has no separate, unchanging, inherent quality. Nothing is discrete in the sense of having an independently existing, self-subsistent, inner essence. Everything (including us) arises in dependence on a network of interconnected conditions. When these conditions cease the phenomenon ceases. It is all a process in space, if you like.
Impermanence is like the process of conditionality in time. Things/phenomena arise in dependence on conditions, exist for awhile, and then cease when the supporting conditions cease. Nothing lasts forever independent of this process of conditionality through time. According to the Buddha, human beings are no different; they do not have a permanent, everlasting 'soul' at the core of their being. They are simply an impermanent and insubstantial flux of mental and physical conditions arising and ceasing. Self-conscious awareness of these processes (which is also a process) deludes us into thinking we have some permanent essence at the centre of our being.
As we saw last week, we try and secure the self we are conscious of by clinging onto what we perceive as the pleasant and repelling the unpleasant. And we don't want to die; we'd rather last forever (or at least a bit longer). But because of impermanence everything pleasant we cling to doesn't last, and we can't forever avoid what we perceive as unpleasant or threatening. Also there is ultimately nothing solid or substantial that we can cling onto. And so we suffer, which is the third characteristic of conditioned existence. Conditioned existence, by its very nature (impermanent and insubstantial), can't provide lasting happiness, and so is inherently unsatisfactory in that sense. But that doesn't mean, according to Buddhism, that there is nothing, just annihilation at the end of life. More next week.

The Gaining of Insight(10/3/00):
As we have seen the purpose of meditation is to learn to concentrate so that we can see things as they are. The world we perceive as reality is an illusion because we see it as consisting of separate fragments, whereas (in Reality) it is all interconnected. Furthermore, there is a subjective distortion overlaid on this perception, which is our seeing of the world as divided into pleasant things and unpleasant things. Another person may see what you perceive as pleasant or unpleasant as entirely different; it is subjective in that sense.
In meditation we go beyond our normal ego-centric form of consciousness by becoming absorbed in the object of meditation. In going beyond the normal self-centred, subjective way of perceiving things we have the opportunity to see things more as they are. In this way Insight may be gained. We can see that conditioned existence has three characteristics (laksana) mentioned last week: unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), impermanence (anicca) and insubstantiality (anatta).
We see through our clear perception that all conditioned or worldly things by their very nature cannot give permanent and lasting satisfaction. For that we've got to look elsewhere! We also see that all worldly things are impermanent; we can't possess any of them forever. Also all conditioned things are insubstantial, only having relative existence. They have no absolute, independent existence. Now contemplation of these three characteristics can give Insight into Nirvana, the Unconditioned. Thus they're also known as the three gateways or entrances to liberation (vimoksa-mukha).
Penetrating unsatisfactoriness one gains knowledge that is Unbiased (apranihita) or objective if you like. Things are not perceived on the subjective bases of greed and aversion, but simply as they are. Fathoming impermanence and emerging as it were on the other side one gains knowledge of the Unconditioned as Imageless or Signless (animitta). This means that nothing can be frozen and delineated by words, labels or concepts. Plumbing insubstantiality leads to knowledge of the Emptiness or Voidness (sunyata) of all things. Though the three characteristics are ultimately inseparable, one can begin by concentrating on any one of them.

Nirvana - The Unconditioned (17/3/00):
The conditioned world is known in Buddhism as Samsara. As we have seen it has the characteristics of unsatisfactoriness, impermanence and insubstantiality. As conditioned beings ourselves we can never find lasting happiness as we try and inflict our subjective view of the world on this shifting mass of conditions in an attempt to secure ourselves. The goal of Buddhism is, however, to achieve lasting happiness and this is to be found in Nirvana.
Samsara is, according to the technical terminology of the Dharma, 'put together' or 'compounded'; which are expressions of the fact that ordinary existence is the result of conditions. With the cessation of these conditions the phenomena they support cease. So things come into existence or have a birth, live, and then cease or die. The Wheel of Life, which we travel around in dependence on these conditions, is often depicted in Buddhism as being in the jaws of the Lord of Death. This is because it involves a never-ending cycle of birth, life and death.
Nirvana is therefore described variously as the 'not put together', 'uncompounded', unconditioned and 'the deathless'! But Nirvana or Enlightenment is not something completely or absolutely separate or distinct from Samasara. In fact it is stated in the teaching that Nirvana is in Samsara and Samsara in Nirvana! Buddhism is not about, as mistakenly assumed in many circles, some sort of search for and re-acquaintance with an absolute, Universal Consciousness. That is far too abstract and vague.
It is about finding the Unconditioned right in the midst of the conditioned. It doesn't exist anywhere else. In the words of the Heart Sutra Form is no other than Emptiness, Emptiness no other than Form; Form is only Emptiness, Emptiness only Form. Just as, according to Chinese Buddhism, one can only delineate fingers as solid forms because of the spaces between them and the spaces as such because of the co-exiting forms of the fingers; one can't have the conditioned without the Unconditioned. So Nirvana in Buddhism is no further away than within your own, everyday, conditioned mind.

Human Enlightenment (24/3/00):
With this article we finish our coverage of the Buddhist Threefold Path-Ethics, Meditation and Wisdom (new directions in buddhism next week). To finish off the Wisdom section it seems appropriate to say a few words about Enlightenment. Notice that I have used the expression 'Human Enlightenment' in the title. Humans need ideals from which to gain inspiration. The ideal person for a Buddhist is an Enlightened Buddha. But we can relate to the Buddha because he was born human and became enlightened by his own efforts.
Enlightenment is described in terms of firstly, pure, clear, radiant, awareness - knowledge of Reality which transcends sense-based awareness - it is continuous, non-dualistic and free of confusion. Secondly, it consists of an intense, profound, overflowing feeling of love and compassion for all living things. Thirdly, it's an experience of inexhaustible mental and spiritual energy.
These qualities of awareness, love and energy are considered to be germinal in all of us. Thus Enlightenment is considered to be a natural, ideal, human state. It's what we're all striving for to complete ourselves. In the Mahayana traditions of Buddhism it's spoken of as the Buddha-Nature within all of us, which is simply obscured by our subjective desires and delusions. It is like the sun or moon obscured by clouds. We need to clear the clouds away or pierce through them to discover our true nature.
The principle tool to achieve this in Buddhism is meditation. By learning to concentrate and break down the dualism of self and other, and to penetrate through our subjective, desire-based distortions of how the world is, we can reveal this inner nature. For most of us, so externally oriented, this inner journey is one into unfamiliar territory. That's why we often avoid it. An Introduction to Traditional Buddhist Meditation course will be starting at the Toowoomba Buddhist Centre the first week of April.

A Buddhist Easter Message (10/4/00):
Easter dates back to pre-Christian, European pagan associations. This time of the year in Europe is spring, so Easter was a sort of 'spring festival' symbolizing a new 'life', a quickening after the 'death' of winter. This type of spring festival occurs in many different cultures (eg. China). Also early Christianity was not so much a religion of dogma as one of the celebration of 'mysteries' (the Eastern Orthodox traditions still speak of these mysteries). The mystery celebrated is of course Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. From a Buddhist point of view, whilst accepting that the crucifixion may have occurred, the resurrection and ascension (physically into heaven) of the Son of God are considered to be myth.
The primary significance of such a myth (again found in many different cultures, including the intiation rites of Australian aborigines) is the notion of spiritual rebirth after a spiritual death. In the Zen tradition of Buddhism it's spoken of in terms of dying the great death before one can gain Enlightenment and experience the 'mystery' of Nirvana. In fact the word 'resurrection' means re-birth. The word 'Easter' in the English language is traceable back to the Anglo-Saxon word oestre, the name of a pre-Christian British goddess of fertility (as in estrogen). The Easter 'egg' is also a universal symbol of fertility. The unbroken egg symbolizes new, renascent life and again is found in most religions.
The Buddha spoke of the Bodhisattva emerging from the eggshell of ignorance. The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order in Britain often used the egg as an image in its advertising accompanied with the admonition to 'break out'. So there's no harm in celebrating Easter from a Buddhist viewpoint as a triumphant emerging of a new mode of awareness, or of Being, from the old!

Buddhist Easter Eggs! (14/4/00):
Last week we talked of the universal spiritual symbolism of the egg. The unbroken egg is a universal symbol of a new life found in practically all religious traditions. For example, in Etruscan tomb paintings dating back to 1000 BC the dead are often depicted on the walls of tombs reclining in couches holding an egg in their outstretched hands, a symbol of their belief that death wasn't the end, but would be followed by a new life.
Last week we established that notions of spiritual death and re-birth are a very common form of myth in many different religions and cultures. And often such myths are celebrated in association with spring festivals after the death of winter. The timing of Easter in our Southern hemisphere calendar coincides with spring in the Northern hemisphere. From a Buddhist point of view, the Christian celebration of the mystery of Christ's death and resurrecti