Practice
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.
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Alone Time
June 11, 2006 07:18 PM
In the
United States, and perhaps the world, it is my
observation that people, and men especially, do not
do a good job of creating space and time to be alone.
It is important, whether one is buddhist or not, to
set aside at least 20 minutes a day without a
television, radio, or any contact with others. It can
be a walk alone, a sit in the park, etc. Being alone
allows one to relive stress, clear one's mind, and be
truly present.