“The Buddha’s principal message that day was
that holding on to anything blocks wisdom.
Any conclusion that we draw must be let go."
that holding on to anything blocks wisdom.
Any conclusion that we draw must be let go."
---Pema Chodron
"Attachment to views is the greatest impediment to the spiritual path. "
-- Thich Nhat Hahn
I'm sitting here at the laptop poised to sprinkle some thoughts across the screen in an effort to capture the essence of the thought that thoughts can't really capture the Essence.
To
be honest, after
choosing the two quotes for this post, my next thought was, "Ah, I'll
just leave it at that, choose a graphic, and hit "send."
But, that
seemed a
bit too cutesy. It smacked of what Roshi Daido Loori called the "stink of Zen" when I was exploring Zen monasticism as a possible path a couple of decades ago.
Although that didn't stick, I am still making an attempt to
live what Roshi Kosho Uchiyama characterized as "a life of vow."
As well as the Bodhisattva Vow and a number of other personal
commitments
that frame my life, I've been trying to find the time and energy to create a weekly post here. (At one point, I did that for several years running.) At this stage, rather than "begin anew," I've been pouring through several hundred previously written posts and trying to polish them up a bit in light of another decade of Practice.
Yet, as it is, I've worked on this one (on and off) for almost two weeks! So much for that plan, sigh.
Yet, when I pause to think about it, it seems to me that a set of commitments is all that I really have to bring to the plate. The rest is in the hands of the Cosmic Pitcher. All I can really do is pledge, again, to show up, step up to the plate, and take my best swing -- if the pitch appears to be in the strike zone. Gratefully, at age 80, I'm a bit more discerning in letting the ball go by if it isn't. (Egads, I'm thinking in baseball metaphors. It must be Spring!)
Okay, the rain delay is over. The tarp's off. I'm warmed up. Here's the Pitch.....
Yet, when I pause to think about it, it seems to me that a set of commitments is all that I really have to bring to the plate. The rest is in the hands of the Cosmic Pitcher. All I can really do is pledge, again, to show up, step up to the plate, and take my best swing -- if the pitch appears to be in the strike zone. Gratefully, at age 80, I'm a bit more discerning in letting the ball go by if it isn't. (Egads, I'm thinking in baseball metaphors. It must be Spring!)
Okay, the rain delay is over. The tarp's off. I'm warmed up. Here's the Pitch.....
I probably have read The Wisdom of No Escape (and the Path of Loving Kindness) cover to cover four times in the past 20 years. I've picked it up often, I Ching style, for some random tidbits as well. In these 108 pages (a slick move by the editors, no?), the venerable Pema Chodron "tells it
like it is." As well as presenting the basic Tibetan Buddhist worldview, she also shares a useful and practical toolkit of practices. When taken to heart, her teachings offer a way to skillfully alter the way we experience our lives. How cool is that?
I randomly poked my nose in The Wisdom of No Escape again this morning. Wow! In Chapter 8, "No Such Thing As a True
Story," she steps up to the plate and hits a hOMe run.
Like each of the chapters in the book, this teaching is an edited transcription of a talk Pema Chodron gave to participants in a month long retreat at Gampo Abby in 1989. Here, she describes the way that we co-create our own world, moment to
moment, largely as a
result of the "story lines" that are constantly dominating our
attention. At the core of these thoughts are our conclusions regarding reality, the belief structures -- conscious and unconscious -- that create our sense of personal identity -- and co-create our lives.
These narratives, both the conscious and subconscious ones, operate to create our lives as they appear to be.
Another Pitch
With Mindfulness Practice, we are offered an opportunity to see these mental constructs for what they are. Instead of allowing these thoughts to continuously write the screenplay of our individual movie, we can, instead, learn to expand our focus.
Rather than remain "lost in our thoughts," we can shift our awareness from our heads to the boundless space of our own hearts. There, we find ourselves dancing with the wondrous array of energies at play within and beyond the magic of each moment. *
With Mindfulness Practice, we are offered an opportunity to see these mental constructs for what they are. Instead of allowing these thoughts to continuously write the screenplay of our individual movie, we can, instead, learn to expand our focus.
Rather than remain "lost in our thoughts," we can shift our awareness from our heads to the boundless space of our own hearts. There, we find ourselves dancing with the wondrous array of energies at play within and beyond the magic of each moment. *
This changes everything. It's a whole new ball game.
It Just Takes Practice
Of course, for most of us, the "habit" of focusing most of our awareness on the content of our thoughts is deeply ingrained. Oftentimes, these thoughts aren't problematic. Yet, some cause undo suffering. Especially damaging are those that operate to divide us from one another rather than promote our connection to one another.
Growing up in a highly judgmental society, we learn to pride ourselves in knowing what is right and wrong. Clinging to these belief structures, we shield ourselves from the inevitable feelings of confusion, pain, and fear that emerge when we encounter someone who holds a different belief. Instead, anger may arise, (sometimes frozen beneath the level of awareness), along with a torrent of combative thoughts. This is the hallmark of the religious and political fundamentalism that continues to propel us into war.
As it is, the world we view through the "I" that we experience is, in large part, the sum total of the
conclusions we have drawn about what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong. Even if that "I" is stressed and unhappy, we cling
to it. We "harden our hearts" to escape what Pema Chodron calls the "fundamental ambiguity of the human condition." It can be scary as hell to throw it all up for grabs.
Yet, that is precisely the Gateway to the Real Deal.
Mindfulness Practice, both in formal meditation and off the cushion gives us a chance to get out of our head to notice what we are actually experiencing in the moment. It increasingly offers us the opportunity to come to our senses. With time, effort -- and gentle persistence -- we begin to open to Life in a fuller, kinder, clearer, and more complete way. In time, we come to see that we are way more than we thought we were. So is everybody else!
In fact, at times, we come to see that we are not only IN this together. We ARE this together!
At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it -- or not!
* In Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change, Pema Chodron describes this Practice as a three-fold process: Let go of the story line. Feel what is in your heart. Open to the next moment with no agenda.
Yet, that is precisely the Gateway to the Real Deal.
Mindfulness Practice, both in formal meditation and off the cushion gives us a chance to get out of our head to notice what we are actually experiencing in the moment. It increasingly offers us the opportunity to come to our senses. With time, effort -- and gentle persistence -- we begin to open to Life in a fuller, kinder, clearer, and more complete way. In time, we come to see that we are way more than we thought we were. So is everybody else!
In fact, at times, we come to see that we are not only IN this together. We ARE this together!
At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it -- or not!
Originally posted: July 19, 2013
* In Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change, Pema Chodron describes this Practice as a three-fold process: Let go of the story line. Feel what is in your heart. Open to the next moment with no agenda.
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