Posted inBuddhism

Jet-setting money-hungry fugitive Thailand monk

It's good to see that Buddhist monks are getting into the scandal business. For too long they've pretty much gotten a pass on the can you believe they did this?! front. Way behind Catholic priests, for sure. But thanks to someone who emailed me a link to this story, I'm now aware of a Thailand monk who breaks the traditional Buddhist mold. He's known as Thailand's jet-setting fugitive monk, and his story has riveted the country with daily headlines of lavish excess, promiscuity and alleged crimes ranging from statutory rape to manslaughter. Until a month ago, 33-year old Wirapol Sukphol…
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Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

Good article on mindfulness meditation

As sort of a counterpoint to a recent post, Buddhists are wrong about a "witnessing mind," check out How Meditation Works. This story in The Atlantic is a good overview of mindfulness meditation from a secular scientific perspective. I still wonder what it means to watch thoughts arise or be aware of emotions blossoming. Hard to believe that our consciousness is outside of the brain where all of this stuff is going on. Thus it sure seems like being "mindful" of what the mind is doing is another activity of the mind that we can be mindful of. And, of…
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Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

Buddhists are wrong about a “witnessing mind”

OK, admitted: my previous post about a Speculative Non-Buddhism essay was pretty damn intellectually intense for summer reading.  I thought of writing about something lighter today, but decided to make another attempt at conveying what I like about what little I know about what those guys at Speculative Non-Buddhism seem to be up to. (Hope that last sentence conveys my uncertainty about what their goal is; these are the most articulate, deep, philosophically-sophisticated Buddhists-who-aren't-really- Buddhists I've ever come across; hard to fathom them after just a little reading.) First, a note about my own split personality toward Buddhism. Part of me…
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Posted inBuddhism

Interesting take on how Shin Buddhism supports social activism

I don't claim to fully understand Tom Pepper's "The Radical Potential of Shin Buddhism." But then, I don't claim to fully understand anything.  The vestiges of other-worldly mysticism remaining in my mind have found Pure Land Buddhism both utterly unbelievable and also strangely compelling. After all, what's not to like about reciting Namu Amida Butsu and earning a ticket to Nirvana Land? Sure beats other forms of Buddhism that require you to engage in all sorts of arduous practices, including back-breaking, mind-numbing meditation for ever and ever (almost).  But Pepper presents a view of Shin/Shinran Buddhism that tosses out its unbelievable…
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Posted inBuddhism Taoism/Tai Chi

Don’t tame your wild horse nature. Let it run wild.

It's simplistic to divide spiritually-inclined people into two types. But I love to do it! So I will! There, I embraced my wild horse nature. I thought of a rule that seemed to make sense. I considered throttling my inclination to do something. Then... Screw it. I'll do what I feel like doing.  I don't want to be a well-trained horse. That's a familiar image in some spiritual, religious, meditation, and philosophical circles. The horse is our untamed sensous, craving, lustful, thought-obsessed self. The trainer or the rider is... Well, that's a good question. If the wild horse is one…
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Posted inBuddhism Taoism/Tai Chi

Why Taoism beats Zen on being non-religious

I can understand why someone who isn't religious wouldn't feel any need at all to embrace a philosophy that has some churchy aspects -- such as Zen Buddhism and Taoism.  However, I enjoy reading books in both genres, and am heavy into Tai Chi, which expresses Taoist principles in movment. It seems to me, along with others much more knowledgeable about Eastern philosophy than I am, that Zen minus Buddhism equals Taoism.  (More or less, at least. We're not talking mathematical precision here.) Buddhism adds in a bunch of religiosity to Zen, which would be more closely related to Taoism…
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Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

Compassion starts with yourself: be kind to your own crap

Last night I watched part of a video that Netflix suggested I'd like to stream to my TV -- "Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater." I enjoyed his style of ironic/cynical comedy. Often he reminded me of me. Like when Louis C.K. said that he believes in being kind to people. He gets pleasure out of knowing that he believes this. Doesn't mean that he actually does kind things, compassionate things, caring things. He just enjoys the feeling of believing that these would be good things to do, were he ever to do them. I can relate to this.…
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Posted inBuddhism Science

The illusory self loves to make up stories

Who are we? Is there both an "I" and a "me" inside my head? Where do my stories about myself come from? Is it possible to live without a coherent life story? Great questions. So it didn't take me long to reply to this email with a "Sure, Alex, I'll put up a post about the video." Hi Brian,I'm writing from the Institute of Art and Ideas, where we organise a philosophy and ideas festival called HowTheLightGetsIn in May every year. All the debates at the festival are filmed and released over the course of the following year and I thought a…
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Posted inBuddhism Science Taoism/Tai Chi

The self: a trick your mind plays on not-you

Here's some good news, and some even better news, from the current special issue of New Scientist: "The Great Illusion of the Self." You're being tricked by an expert! And who doesn't like amazing tricks? Even better, the trickster is your own mind! You're your own magician.  Well, you would be if you existed. But almost certainly you don't. At least, not in any way close to how you feel that you do. In 10 pages, several New Scientist stories -- "Who Are You?," What Are You?," "When Are You?," "Where Are You?," "Why Are You?" -- persuasively present evidence that an…
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Posted inBuddhism Radha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Eyes shut spiritual escapism: the trap of “going within”

For many years, decades actually, I practiced a form of meditation aimed at "going within." Meaning, within some supposed realms of consciousness distinct, and higher than, the physical world. This practice was part of a Sant Mat teaching. As Wikipedia says: The basic teaching of contemporary Sant Mat, as described by its Masters, is that everything lies inside us and that God is within. The outside world is only an image or a reflection of the inner reality. So, in pithier terms, what's outside of us is worthless crap; what's inside of us is precious divinity. This world-denying notion is…
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Posted inBuddhism

How to challenge ghosts who seem real

I came across a great story in one of my non-holy inspirational books, "Complete Idiot's Guide to Zen Living."  Here's a simple way to prove whether a seemingly supernatural vision, thought, presence, or whatever really is other-worldly, or just an emanation of your own mind.  Adapt the proof as desired. There's lots of ways to do what this Zen master advised. An old Zen story tells of a man whose wife, on her deathbed, begged him never to go to another woman. A few months after her death, the man fell in love and became engaged. Immediately, he was haunted…
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Posted inBuddhism

Who the heck is inside my head, talking to “me”?

Last night my wife and I spent a pleasant couple of hours at a holiday gathering hosted by a Tai Chi friend. Meeting some new people, we enjoyed stimulating conversation on a variety of subjects. Including meditation, spirituality, that sort of stuff. At one point, I said something like: A few days ago I had a realization that seemed fresh to me, even after more than forty years of daily meditation. Why do I so often feel at odds with myself? After all, who is there inside my head in addition to me? What's up with my worrying about whether…
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Posted inBuddhism

Creative Zen idea: Our individuality makes universality possible

During most of my spirituality-seeking life, which spans about forty five years, I've considered individuality to be at odds with universality -- feeling one with the universe. The mystical philosophies that I embraced taught that ego, a sense of "I-ness," is what keeps us humans from becoming one with the One which supposedly is ultimate reality.  Not so, according to Zen Buddhism. So explains Kosho Uchiyama in "Opening the Hand of Thought," a book I blogged about recently.  That's a relief. Uchiyama has a take on this whole individuality/universality thing that makes a lot of sense to me. When I…
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Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

In Zen Buddhism, meditation replaces God

I've got a lot of books about Zen. Back in college I liked "The Supreme Doctrine" so much I couldn't bear returning it to the San Jose Public Library, so I kept it.  My attitude toward Zen Buddhism is decidedly mixed, though. I resonate with the philosophical aspects, but when Zen gets too religious and supernatural, that turns me off. Which is why I'm enjoying a re-reading of Kosho Uchiyama's "Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice" so much. On the back cover there's a quote from the book which pretty much sums it up: When we let…
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Posted inBooks Buddhism

Why I like D.T. Suzuki’s brand of Zen

For me, minimally Buddhist'y Zen is one of my foraging spots when I feel the need to feast on some "spiritual but not religious" food.  Seven years ago I bought "The Zen Koan as a means of Attaining Enlightenment," by Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, a.k.a. D.T. Suzuki. (Check here for a recent update on my enlightenment; in brief, it's going great.) Many books come and go in my meditation area. A few are permanent residents. D.T. Suzuki's is one of them. Parts of it are so steeped in Zen lore/tradition, I don't resonate with them. But otherwise I can usually turn…
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Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

Why mindfulness is better than concentration

After more than thirty years of focusing on concentration in my meditation practice, I've become a believer of broadening into mindfulness. That is, being aware of whatever is there -- the point of my previous post about my can't-miss meditation approach.  Repeating a mantra is a common concentrative technique. So is following the sensation of one's breathing. Nothing wrong with this. Concentration is good. It's how I'm able to focus on writing this blog post on my laptop while distracting sights and sounds abound in our kitchen as my wife putters around. But here's the thing: I know what I need…
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Posted inBuddhism Reality Science

Happy birthday to me. But is there really a “me”?

Geez, I'm so philosophically minded, I can't even enjoy a birthday without questioning whether "I" am having one. Over on my other blog I mused yesterday about the Beatles' When I'm 64 and the positive side of craziness. Hopefully this will shut up the folks who, after reading my thoughtful ponderings about religion/spirituality, accuse me of being a left-brained rationalist who only lives in my big fat intellectual cranium.  Fire up your skateboard, accustory dudes, and join me on a four mile longboarding jaunt up and down (mild) hills here in Salem's Minto Brown Island Park. Then you'll see another…
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Posted inBuddhism Reality Science

Reality is a circle: nothing is fundamental

Ooh, ooh! It came, it came! I felt like a kid who'd just gotten a long-awaited toy in the mail when I opened our mailbox and saw the New Scientist cover: What is Reality? A User's Guide to the Ultimate Question of Existence. Finally. I'd know. What reality is all about. I stretched out the suspense by waiting until evening to read the cover story. In the bathtub, immersed in relaxingly hot water, a glass of red wine and highlighter in hand (not at the same time). I wasn't disappointed. Right away I liked the concise focus of the "Defining Reality"…
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Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

“No-self” isn’t a spiritual goal — it’s what we already are

Many religions and spiritual traditions venerate selflessness, ego-loss, transcending individuality. Here's the problem with that notion, according to both Buddhist philosophy and neuroscientific evidence: There's no such thing as a "self." So getting rid of one not only is impossible, but the belief that we have such a thing that needs to be done away with, or markedly reduced, perpetuates the delusion -- in much the same way that an obsessive attempt to rid one's garden of fairies feeds this fantasy by all the attention given to it. Another aspect to this problem is the widespread belief in an enduring…
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Posted inBuddhism Personal/Stories

Have I ever had a meaningful, valuable meditation experience?

Yesterday Jesse left a comment on this post which asked me: May I ask if you ever had a subjective experience in meditation that you found to be meaningful or that revealed something of value to you, personally? Not necessarily a RS [Radha Soami Satsang Beas] meditation or any specific lights or sounds but just something that left you in a state of deeper self reverence or lasting tranquility. Good question. Not an easy question to answer. It's a question that got me thinking more about the question than a possible answer.  Meaning, after pondering for a bit how I…
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