Posted inBuddhism Mystics Religions

Splitting is the biggest danger in religiosity and mysticism

There are lots of good reasons to be wary of religiosity and mysticism. Splitting is one of the most important. It comes in various forms. Most obviously, religiosity and mysticism split us from other people. It is easy, almost compulsory, really, for a believer to consider that they are on a path that makes them special. Perhaps they are saved, while others are condemned. Perhaps they are God's chosen, while others are ignored by God. Perhaps they possess some special revelation, while others wallow in ignorance. But there's another way of looking at splitting that seems to be the foundation…
13
Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

Buddhism’s fourth noble truth can be ignored, because there’s no need to follow a path of liberation

My previous post was "The first three of Buddhism's Four Noble Truths are obvious. The fourth is unappealing." True. But I should have made it more clear that in addition to being unappealing, the fourth truth also is unnecessary. That's why I said that Zen is more appealing than traditional Buddhism, because it doesn't buy into the whole Right View, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration stuff. Or at least nowhere near as assiduously as traditional Buddhism does. Since in that post I'd quoted James Ishmael Ford as saying that he's…
15
Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

The first three of Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths are obvious. The fourth is unappealing.

Here's the blog post about James Ishmael Ford's book, Zen at the End of Religion: An Introduction for the Curious, the Skeptical, and the Spiritual But Not Religious, that got pre-empted by my detour into a recently discovered essay that I'd written more than 25 years ago. I like Ford's style. Warm. Informal. Non-dogmatic. You know, what I'd expect from a Zen practitioner. Early on he speaks about three forms of Zen that lie outside Buddhism. Jewish Zen and Christian Zen are two of them. They don't interest me. Then there's secular Zen, which is the Zen I resonate with most…
10
Posted inBuddhism

As an atheist, this is what I like about Buddhism’s Pure Land Tradition

Surprisingly, even to me, I've enjoyed learning about the Pure Land Tradition of Buddhism after buying a book by Taitetsu Unno four years ago. From time to time I pick up River of Fire, River of Water, liking the parts that resonate with me, downplaying the parts that don't. As I said in a title of a blog post earlier this year, "I enjoy Buddhism's Pure Land tradition, but I don't believe in it." This is common among atheists like myself. It's possible to be moved by religious devotion without accepting the teachings of a religion. When I see a…
5
Posted inBuddhism Mindfulness

Just this — a simple yet profound Zen saying

Zen Buddhism is known for focusing on the natural world rather than abstract concepts. Chopping wood and carrying water are favored over devotion to God and similar thoughts divorced from everyday reality. Just this. A simple yet profound Zen saying. Just this breath in meditation. Just this step in walking the dog. Just this seeing of the full moon. Just this sensation of a hot bath. There's nothing lacking in just this, nothing to strive for, nothing to hope for, nothing to pray for. The present moment is complete. Undeniable. Impossible to argue with. Beyond doubt. Religious notions of faith…
4
Posted inBuddhism Neuroscience

“Myself” is a transient thought, like all other thoughts

Who am I? Who are you? Who is anybody? These questions, which all point in the same enigmatic direction, are central to many different fields. Psychology. Neuroscience. Spirituality. Philosophy. Sociology. Anthropology. Broadly speaking -- very broadly, really -- there seems to be two approaches to answering the Who am I? question. I'll sum them up as the Hidden Pearl and the Flowing River. Hinduism is an example of Hidden Pearl. There's a divine Self lurking within the human psyche, Atman, which, when recognized, is closely related to Brahman, the Supreme Being. Another way of putting it is the true Self…
9
Posted inBuddhism Radha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Just breath. Arising out of nothing. Returning to nothing.

Most religions say that the purpose of human life is to merge with God. Maybe not become God, but at least become really close to God. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism obviously differ in many respects. However, they all espouse achieving a closeness to the Almighty that expands the usual conception of what being a person is all about. The Eastern religion that I belonged to for 35 years, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, had a similar teaching: the creative power of God extends throughout the creation. Through meditation and other spiritual practices, it is possible to first become self-realized as…
22
Posted inBuddhism Radha Soami Satsang Beas

If a religion claims to know ultimate truth, how can its teachings change?

This morning I read another chapter in Scott Carney's The Enlightenment Trap: Obsession, Madness and Death on Diamond  Mountain. "Diamond Theosophy" included some interesting Buddhist history that I wasn't aware of before. I did know that Buddhism became less popular in the area where Buddha lived, modern day India. China and Japan became Buddhist centers, along with south Asia. But Buddhism also made its way into Tibet in the fifth century, where it thrived.  Carney writes: Modern scholars who have studied the original manuscripts were unsurprised to learn that the translations that endured the legions of miles on monks' backs…
11
Posted inBuddhism Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Karma makes sense. Except when it doesn’t. Same with trusting a spiritual teacher.

I'm gradually making my way through Scott Carney's The Enlightenment Trap: Obsession, Madness and Death on Diamond  Mountain. (First blog post about the book is here.) The book is building up its tale of Buddhism gone bad by telling us about the history of the Buddhist student who dies and the Buddhist teacher who, I'm assuming, played a role in his death. Along the way, Carney describes what Buddhism is all about. This is mostly familiar territory for me. But since I'm much more interested in the modern secular non-supernatural side of Buddhism than the traditional religious supernatural side, some…
47
Posted inBuddhism Mindfulness

Martin Aylward’s embodied awareness makes body as important as mind

One thing leads to another. That's the story of my life. Also, everybody's life. Here's a recent example.  I've been going along in my morning meditation, enjoying a mixture of guided meditations from Zen master Henry Shukman on his The Way app and from Tamara Levitt on the Daily Calm app, when I feel an urge to check out what's new on Sam Harris' Waking Up app, as I hadn't used that app for a while. (My meditation has become app'y, obviously.) On Waking Up, I noticed a new series of 30 lessons from Martin Aylward called Awake Where You…
10
Posted inBuddhism Neuroscience Taoism/Tai Chi

If you want a fresh self, a right-brain one is worth considering

One of the reasons I'm so attracted to modern neuroscience and ancient Buddhism is that each discipline agrees that the unchanging Self most people believe they have is an illusion -- the reality being that we have multiple selves popping into existence all the time. Cognitive neuropsychologist Chris Niebauer speaks about this in his book, No Self, No Problem: How Neuropsychology is Catching Up to Buddhism, which I wrote about a few days ago. Here's a compelling passage from his "Pattern Perception and the Missing Self" chapter. Noting just how many "yous" appear in a day works to dismantle the…
7
Posted inBuddhism Neuroscience

Obvious, but needs repeating: our conceptions may seem true, but often aren’t

It had been a while since the Great God Amazon blessed me with another book about how our usual conception of the self is an illusion. But after prayerfully searching for "neuroscience" titles, my faith was rewarded with No Self, No Problem: How Neuropsychology is Catching Up to Buddhism, by Chris Niebauer. This won't be my favorite book is this genre, but I'm enjoying the first part of it. I did peek ahead to a later chapter on consciousness and was disappointed to see positive mentions of Rupert Sheldrake. That's an annoyance. However, what I've read so far seems neuroscientifically…
9
Posted inBooks Buddhism

Zen and Jack Reacher have this in common

My wife and I just got back from a trip to Black Butte Ranch in central Oregon, where we spent several days with my daughter's (Celeste) family -- Patrick (husband) and Evelyn (my granddaughter). They live in southern California and came up for Evelyn's orientation at the University of Oregon, where she'll be a freshman this fall. Yesterday we made a trip into Sisters for lunch and to browse Paulina Springs Books, a wonderful small town bookstore where I always find something to buy. Two of the three books I purchased were Lee Child's Make Me and Hiking Zen by…
4
Posted inBuddhism Neuroscience

Belief in a human “essence” is strong, but almost certainly wrong

On the whole I agree with Amit Sood's view of things. He's an M.D. who has written a book about a more modern approach to mindfulness that I enjoyed reading. I decided to buy a recent book of his, It Takes You to Tango: Leverage the Science of Loneliness to Master the Art of Connection. It's turned out to be sort of a disappointment. I'm liking the book, but so far it hasn't really done much to inform or interest me. And when I came to several chapters about what Sood calls the Esse, an essence in every person deeper…
13
Posted inBuddhism

Not knowing is most intimate — a Zen koan that I grasped instantly

Zen master Henry Shukman's The Way app, which I embarked on in January of this year and have been enjoying ever since, contains guided meditations that include koans.  Pleasingly, Shukman's view of koans isn't that they are a spiritual puzzle to be solved, but simply messages to consider and see what effect the koan has on us. A few days ago he introduced a koan that I was unfamiliar with: Not knowing is most intimate. Two Zen teachers meet; one is carrying his bags. “Where are you going?”, inquires the first teacher. “I’m going on a pilgrimage”, the other teacher…
12
Posted inBuddhism Consciousness Taoism/Tai Chi

What is changeless? Important question that I’m not sure about.

I stay in touch with a few people from my high school years, including an old friend that I went to elementary school with. He's as philosophically and spiritually minded as I am, so I enjoy our periodic email exchanges. In our most recent sharing of views, my friend included a quote from a previous message I'd sent him. I was referring to Robert Wright, the author of Why Buddhism is True, a book I've written about on this blog. Wright says that the main illusions Buddhism can help us dissolve are a belief in an enduring unchanging self, and…
9
Posted inBuddhism

“The White Lotus” show raises question about Buddhist truth

First, unrelated to the primary subject of this post I wanted to mention a You Tube channel, No Nonsense Spirituality, that someone recently pointed out to me via an email, as he liked this woman's style. It's worth a look, based on my quick browsing of some videos. Here's what's said about a Welcome video: Welcome to No-Nonsense Spirituality! If you're feeling lost in a world filled with competing beliefs and overwhelming choices, you’re not alone. In this video, Brit Hartley, an atheist spiritual director with advanced theological training, guides you through the process of deconstructing your beliefs about God,…
2
Posted inBuddhism Reality

This is all there is, says David Chapman. But what is, is extraordinary.

David Chapman is a really interesting guy. I've followed his writings on Buddhism, artificial intelligence, and other subjects for quite a few years. Meaningness is his main web site, and well worth a look. Chapman describes his form of Buddhism this way: I am, somewhat reluctantly, a Buddhist. Of an odd sort: “the opposite of whatever you’d expect” comes close. That sort of Buddhism shares central themes with Meaningness. I explain it elsewhere: A window has recently opened for Buddhist innovations that can address new cultural, social, and personal problems. Vividness explores possible futures, based on Buddhism’s history and its…
3
Posted inBuddhism

Nirvana basically is reducing our habitual reactivity

Nirvana is a word that often conjures up visions of an otherworldly paradise, sort of like heaven. But the literal meaning in Sanskrit is "blown out," as in blowing out a candle -- which points to the extinguishing of passions that lead to suffering, as desires are endless and so cause us to continually chase them, much as the proverbial donkey drawn to walk fast in an effort to get the carrot dangled in front of the animal's face that grabs its attention but is impossible to reach, though the donkey doesn't know this. In Robert Wright's book, Why Buddhism…
7
Posted inBuddhism

I enjoy Buddhism’s Pure Land tradition, but I don’t believe in it

Is it possible to enjoy a religious tradition without believing in it? Absolutely. In a sense that's what Christmas is like for many people. You don't have to believe that Jesus was born of a virgin and is God's beloved son to like the Christmas season. All that's needed is to keep the parts of Christmas you can accept, and reject the parts you can't accept. Same goes with any religion.  That's how I explain my enjoyment of the Pure Land tradition of Buddhism, which I mainly know about from reading Taitetsu Unno's book, "River of Fire, River of Water."…
9