Soto Zen

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Hi Fellow Buddhists!

I've been wanting to share this way of meditation for quite a while now. Sorry I only just got round to it! I learnt it through one of the masters of the Soto Zen tradition, but actually it could come from any tradition, in that in many ways it represents the essence of Buddhist meditation. It's basically just sitting being the Buddha. What could be easier!

I have always grappled with mindfulness of the breath, counting one to ten. It always seemed much too technique orientated for my liking, and somehow I always managed to end up all knotted up. In fact, it was too much like hard work. And in my opinion true meditation is not hard work, but is in fact the most relaxed, natural and fulfilling experience imaginable. So what was I doing wrong?

Well, I think a lot of the problem is techniques. They are almost by definition not the real thing. They just help prepare you for true meditation, which must involve direct experience of the Dharmakaya or Buddha Nature. That's why for me sitting being the Buddha will always be high on my list of "techniques", precisely because it isn't a technique.

One simply sits and imagines oneself as the Buddha, sitting here and now. There may be just a loose awareness of the breathing, but certainly not a mechanical counting one to ten. One let's thoughts and images rise, fall, come and go, and simply sits through them all as a fully aware Buddha. One's mind should be relaxed and naturally open embracing everything, not narrowly focused on the tip of your nose or navel or somewhere. And the more you do it the easier it becomes. In fact, it's your natural state!

I hope you find time to try this, because I can guarantee you that it will help progress your meditation.

Happy Meditation,
Robert

Buddhism in Hospital

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Hi Fellow Buddhists,
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I had a very unfortunate experience earlier this month. I was hit by a car while jogging. Luckily, I wasn't too badly hurt, just a broken toe and badly twisted knees. Nevertheless, I still had to go into hospital for an operation on one my knees (meniscus). And when you're in hospital, you certainly get to doing some serious thinking about life's deeper issues and also one's own meditation practice.

Firstly, and most obviously, the accident was a timely teaching on impermance, a reminder of just how precarious life is, how it can be suddenly taken from you at the blink of an eyelid, not necessarily through any fault of your own. Hence the importance of maintaining a regular and consistent pattern of practice regardless of circumstances.

However, for this blog I want to focus more on meditation practice in a hospitalised situation. I hope I die surrounded by nature, but, in fact, most of us will probably die in a hospital, so it's well worth thinking about how one might handle that situation. The first thing I noticed on being admitted was how quickly my ability to meditate disintegrated, largely due to being forced to be in a supine position. We normally meditate sitting crossed legged with the spine straight. Now, in hospital you probably won't have this luxury, particularly if you're attached to a drip. This, plus the fact that you're probably not going to be feeling too good either!

For me, spiritual practice has two main aspects, the cerebral or meditational side and the heart or devotional side, and to make serious progress I would consider that both need to be present. Either approach could lead to full Enlightenment, and if you look at all the major religions of the world, usually both are catered to. Buddhism, though, leans strongly towards the cerebral approach (in strong contrast to a religion like Christianity, in which prayer plays the leading role). However, the mind is usually unable to maintain the cerebral kind of focus for long periods of time. And, in my opinion, this is why the devotional aspect is so important, since it keeps us fully connected with the forces of Enlightenment, when not being able to engage properly from a meditational point of view. And hospital is just such a situation when this might be useful.

So what heart or devotional practices to do when lying prostrate? Of course, there are standard Buddhist practices like visualising the Buddha or reciting mantras, but they tend to all be rather "technique" orientated and it's not really about technique at this stage. It's about actually feeling and experiencing directly the live presence of the Dharmakaya. Christians would probably repeat something like "Praise the Lord", as this would bring them into direct communion with God. Actually, I see no reason why Buddhists can't do something similar, just substituting a word like Dharmakaya for God. In fact, someone with an eclectic view of religion might argue that they are one and the same thing. It's all a matter of how you interpret a word like "God". But the important thing is to completely and unconditionally lay oneself open to the ultimate reality, to really experience it as present and thereby merge with it. What words you use are a personal choice, whatever works for you.

I've tried experimenting with this type of practice, and I find it really establishes a strong field of devotion, into which you can just let yourself go. This, in my opinion, may well be the most useful approach when in hospital or on the operating table or even when death itself approaches. A man needs to be able to worship and pray as well as meditate! Otherwise meditation risks becoming just mental gymnastics.

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Has anybody else got any useful tips for the hospital scenario?

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E Ma Ho!

Robert

Humanistic Buddhism

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Hi Bloggers,

It's been a while since I last blogged, but don't think I haven't been practising or thinking about things. I think what's uppermost on my mind these days is how Buddhism might come to have a universal and global appeal. And I don't mean just for those people who believe in life after death, but also for complete materialists, who reckon it's a straight black out when you die, and who certainly don't believe in any sort of mystical universal justice through a notion as unprovable as karma.

What's my own position on these questions? Well. I used to be a firm believer in karma and rebirth. However, the more I studied science, both in terms of physics and biology, the more I have come to doubt the truth of these. I certainly hope my doubts are unfounded. I certainly hope consciousness isn't simply a bi-product of the biological process. I hope that consciousness exists independently and that the brain and nervous system are simply the mediums through which it functions in the material world. However, it is difficult to prove either way.

Regarding karma, I now consider that to be primarily an internal event. I think the permutations of the external world are simply too vast to be explained by karma. Clearly a lot of events, both fortunate and unfortunate are random. Not to mention the glaring injustices in our world, such as people being born into hopeless poverty traps or being struck by natural disasters, etc. To me karma works only inwardly, in that the shape of one's mind is truly karmic. Practice love and you will have a beautiful mind. Go around being nasty to people and you will be uptight and will never get that happy, relaxed, open mind that meditators seek.

As for rebirth, well, the problem is where do we get reborn. In the Buddha's day, they had a fixed view of the universe. Now we know it will almost certainly eventually self destruct, with no guarantee of another conveniently similar one popping up somewhere else. Could we be born on another dimension or what. Who knows?

Anyway, despite these perplexities, I still fully believe in the importance of practicing the Buddha's teachings, particularly doing meditation. Ironically, by removing the theological debate from the equation, Buddhism may gain a much wider appeal in that it will become the ultimate form of humanism, and could be approached as such. In fact, there would be two ways of practising Buddhism, firstly in the traditional religous way it has been for centuries and secondly in a completely modern humanistic way. Either way, the benefits would be vast.

I'm going to stop here for now. Will continue in my next blog.

Look forward to getting some comments from you!

Happy Meditation,
Robert

Financial Tsunami

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Hi Folks,

I've lost a fair bit on the markets, about $50,000 altogether over the year, and it's certainly having a detrimental effect on my retirement plans. In fact, I wonder if I'll be able to afford to retire!

But it's in times of financial crisis like this that one's development as a Buddhist is truly tested. Just how free from attachment to worldly things are we? We all know what the Buddha taught about impermanence and attachment, but how much progress have we made in these meditations? What a great opportunity to practice them !!

We understandably tend to seek security in the future based on an accumulation of wealth. But actually the future is of its nature always insecure, almost by definition. I think what this feeling of insecurity should do is bring our consciousnesses into the present, which is ultimately where Enlightenment is to be found. In my opinion, this is the true meaning of the Buddhist term "taking Refuge"

I must admit I'm personally quite pleased with the way I'm handling it. As yet, I've felt very little stress over the whole thing, even though the world economy looks like it's going to continue to nose dive this coming year!

How are you others coping? Let's hear from you.

Nirvana's the way!

Robert

First blog

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Hello fellow Buddhists and meditators!

I've started this blog primarily as a discussion forum for various issues in Buddhism as we move forward into the 21st century. I also hope to be able to share what little wisdom I myself have gained through my own practice and maybe hear about yours.

I think one of the issues of particular significance today is the need to separate Buddhism from some of the cultures it has developed in. As Westerners we bend over backwards to try to accomodate the host culture. But can it really work? Whether it be offering oneself body and mind to the lama or blindly following the regimented dogmas of Theravada, is this appropriate for those of us coming from Western culture? I always think the Buddha himself was such a fine example of independence of spirit, so why do we slavishly follow as soon as we affiliate with a particular group? Do we really have to become Tibetan, Japanese or Thai to get enlightened? Can we not keep our own culture where it's suitable?

Another important subject is the much taboo idea of an eclectic approach, i.e. drawing from several different traditions at the same time. Most of the main schools of Buddhism jealously guard their traditions and see mixing other practices in as the ultimate heresy. How does this affect Westerners? It usually leads to a feeling of being shackled and hence limitation and frustration. It is in our spirit to explore as many ways as possible, and this should be seen as something positive and creative.

Anyway, enough for my first blog. More to come in my future ones.

Happy meditation!
Robert