Interbeing
In the face of terror...
December 02, 2008 12:12 AM
“Nonviolence
does not mean that we remain indifferent to a
problem. On the contrary, it is important to be fully
engaged. However, we must behave in a way that does
not benefit us alone. We must not harm the interests
of others. Nonviolence therefore is not merely the
absence of violence. It involves a sense of
compassion and caring. It is almost the manifestation
of compassion. I strongly believe that we must
promote such a concept of nonviolence at the level of
the family as well as at the national and
international levels. Each individual has the ability
to contribute to such compassionate nonviolence.”
- An Open Heart; Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life, His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- An Open Heart; Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life, His Holiness the Dalai Lama
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Emptiness
November 18, 2008 10:56 PM
Opacity
July 14, 2008 11:18 PM
Identification with
your mind creates an opaque screen of concepts,
labels, images, words, judgments, and definitions
that blocks all true relationship. It comes between
you and yourself, between you and your fellow man and
woman, between you and nature, between you and God.
It is this screen of thought that creates the
illusion of separateness, the illusion that there is
you and a totally separate "other." You then forget
the essential fact that, underneath the level of
physical appearances and separate forms, you are one
with all that is. - Eckhart Tolle
Looking Deeply (Continued) ...
December 25, 2007 11:31 PM
Looking
Deeply is a practice that is at the very core of
Buddha's teaching. The goal of it is to see be able
to see the world in a non-dualistic way. In other
words, by looking deeply we hope to see ourselves in
everything else, see everything else in ourselves,
and everything else in everything else. By
inter-being with all else, we find compassion and
love for all things. This compassion should drive our
attitudes and actions.
Looking Deeply is a simple concept, but is very difficult to really implement. It requires mindfulness and patience to practice looking deeply in a way that can shape your attitudes and actions. I think I'm a long way from practicing this correctly. But for now, I do think I have some general understanding of what looking deeply means, and from time to time, it does help to provide me with clarity and peace.
I think the concept of looking deeply is best taught by example.
The following is an adaptation from the chapter on interbeing from the book "Peace is Every Step" by Thich Nhat Hahn. I think he explains the concept of interbeing very well. It is the practice of "looking deeply" that allows us to see how things can "inter-be".
When you look at a piece of paper, what do you see? If you practice "deep looking", you might see that there is a cloud in you paper. For "without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist." Without the cloud, we do not have the sheet of paper. "If we look at this sheet of paper even more deeply," we can see the Sun in it. "Without sunshine, the forest cannot grow." If we continue to look, we can see the logger who cut the tree and brought it to the mill to be transformed into paper. And we see wheat. We know the logger cannot exist without his daily bread, and therefore the wheat that became his bread is also in this sheet of paper. The logger's father and mother are in it too." Without them, the logger would not exist. "Looking even more deeply, we can see ourselves in the sheet of paper too. This is not difficult to see, because when we look at a sheet of paper, it is part of our perception." If you did not exist to experience the sheet of paper, would it exist? How would you know? With deep looking, we can see the entire world in one sheet of paper.
This is an easy concept, but every time I see a sheet of paper, I am not overcome with compassion for the world. This is because I am not actively mindful and am not practicing deep looking. If I was able to, I might find compassion that would alter my attitudes and actions. This is why the PRACTICE of mindfulness is much more important than the THEORY behind it. Without the practice, it doesn't change your actions. In subsequent entries, I'll continue looking at deep looking, and how it relates to anger.
Looking Deeply is a simple concept, but is very difficult to really implement. It requires mindfulness and patience to practice looking deeply in a way that can shape your attitudes and actions. I think I'm a long way from practicing this correctly. But for now, I do think I have some general understanding of what looking deeply means, and from time to time, it does help to provide me with clarity and peace.
I think the concept of looking deeply is best taught by example.
The following is an adaptation from the chapter on interbeing from the book "Peace is Every Step" by Thich Nhat Hahn. I think he explains the concept of interbeing very well. It is the practice of "looking deeply" that allows us to see how things can "inter-be".
When you look at a piece of paper, what do you see? If you practice "deep looking", you might see that there is a cloud in you paper. For "without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist." Without the cloud, we do not have the sheet of paper. "If we look at this sheet of paper even more deeply," we can see the Sun in it. "Without sunshine, the forest cannot grow." If we continue to look, we can see the logger who cut the tree and brought it to the mill to be transformed into paper. And we see wheat. We know the logger cannot exist without his daily bread, and therefore the wheat that became his bread is also in this sheet of paper. The logger's father and mother are in it too." Without them, the logger would not exist. "Looking even more deeply, we can see ourselves in the sheet of paper too. This is not difficult to see, because when we look at a sheet of paper, it is part of our perception." If you did not exist to experience the sheet of paper, would it exist? How would you know? With deep looking, we can see the entire world in one sheet of paper.
This is an easy concept, but every time I see a sheet of paper, I am not overcome with compassion for the world. This is because I am not actively mindful and am not practicing deep looking. If I was able to, I might find compassion that would alter my attitudes and actions. This is why the PRACTICE of mindfulness is much more important than the THEORY behind it. Without the practice, it doesn't change your actions. In subsequent entries, I'll continue looking at deep looking, and how it relates to anger.