Looking Deeply (Continued) ...
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.
|
Looking Deeply...
December 17, 2007 01:50 AM Filed in: Misc
My friend Phil
asked:
""When you practice deep looking..."
What does this mean? And how do you know that
by not practicing anger, you are victorious?"
My next few posts will be about the concept of "looking deeply", which I think is fundamental to the mindfulness practice. I'm not very good at looking deeply, but do think I have some idea of what it entails and, from my limited experience, the benefits of its practice.
Thanks for the inspiration Phil.
""When you practice deep looking..."
What does this mean? And how do you know that
by not practicing anger, you are victorious?"
My next few posts will be about the concept of "looking deeply", which I think is fundamental to the mindfulness practice. I'm not very good at looking deeply, but do think I have some idea of what it entails and, from my limited experience, the benefits of its practice.
Thanks for the inspiration Phil.
If at first you don't succeed...
December 15, 2007 02:34 AM Filed in: Anger
| Acceptance
Today I was
faced with an undesirable situation. Think of a
situation where a fly keeps buzzing by your ear or the
neighbor's dog barks all night long. This was such a
situation, albeit much more personal and severe.
When such a situation arises, I think one should approach it reasonably. I should have first understood that it was my perception or interpretation of the situation that was causing my grief. With a different attitude or perspective, it is possible to see the situation from a different perspective. Second, I should have tried to determine if there was something I could do about the situation - such as leave. In my case, there seemed to be no way to avoid the situation. Finally, if unable to avoid the situation, I should have let go.
I should have changed my perspective to allow me to accept the situation and not let it affect my emotional well-being. This situation was an incredible opportunity to practice mindfulness and really see the situation in a different light. Acceptance rather than anger was the correct course of action.
I chose anger.
I hope to react differently next time.
When such a situation arises, I think one should approach it reasonably. I should have first understood that it was my perception or interpretation of the situation that was causing my grief. With a different attitude or perspective, it is possible to see the situation from a different perspective. Second, I should have tried to determine if there was something I could do about the situation - such as leave. In my case, there seemed to be no way to avoid the situation. Finally, if unable to avoid the situation, I should have let go.
I should have changed my perspective to allow me to accept the situation and not let it affect my emotional well-being. This situation was an incredible opportunity to practice mindfulness and really see the situation in a different light. Acceptance rather than anger was the correct course of action.
I chose anger.
I hope to react differently next time.
Just Don't Steal
While
reading The Kite
Runner by
Khaled Hosseini, I came across a conversation
between a father and son regarding sin. While I have
no intention of analyzing the merits of the father's
viewpoint, I wanted to share this passage:
"There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft.
...
When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal a wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.
...
There is no act more wretched than stealing."
"There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft.
...
When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal a wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.
...
There is no act more wretched than stealing."
Love Actually
“Whenever I
get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about
the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General
opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world
of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to
me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly
dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there -
fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and
wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the
planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of
the phone calls from the people on board were messages
of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If
you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find
that love actually ... is all around.” - from the
film Love
Actually.
Welcome to the New Lotus Mud
December 09, 2007 01:51 AM Filed in: Misc
Welcome
to the new and improved The Lotus Mud Blog. This
website was created for the purpose of documenting my
spiritual journey along the path of Buddhism and
mindfulness practice. I have moved the blog from its
original location -- at Google's Blogger and am newly
committed to regularly posting to this blog. The
purpose of the blog is provide an outlet for my
philosophical musings, to document my progress, and
perhaps reach others who find themselves in a similar
quest. I have moved several posts from the old Lotus
Mud to this blog.
I hope to add more content in the future, such as other online resources, book reviews, general information regarding mindfulness practice, etc. For now, I'm happy to have recreated this blog. It's an important piece of my practice and helps to stay focused and grounded in its principles.
Thanks for visiting. Feel free to leave comments or use the "Contact Me" form using the link at the top of the page.
I hope to add more content in the future, such as other online resources, book reviews, general information regarding mindfulness practice, etc. For now, I'm happy to have recreated this blog. It's an important piece of my practice and helps to stay focused and grounded in its principles.
Thanks for visiting. Feel free to leave comments or use the "Contact Me" form using the link at the top of the page.
Do Not Respond To Anger
I man once
cursed the Buddha to his face. The Buddha only smiled.
The man became even more incensed and asked, "Why don't
you respond?" The Buddha replied, "If someone refuses a
gift, it must be taken back by the one who offered it."
The Buddha then recited this verse:
"For those with no anger,
how can anger arise?
When you practice deep looking and master yourself,
you dwell in peace, freedom, and safety.
The one who offends another after being offended by him,
harms himself and harms the other.
When you feel hurt, but do not hurt the other,
you are truly victorious.
Your practice and your victory benefit both of you.
When you understand the roots of anger in yourself and in the other,
your mind will enjoy true peace, joy, and lightness.
You become the doctor who heals himself and heals the other.
If you don't understand,
you will think not getting angry to be the act of a fool."
Source: Teachings on Love, by Thich Nhat Hahn from The Sutra of 42 Chapters, Taisho 784
"For those with no anger,
how can anger arise?
When you practice deep looking and master yourself,
you dwell in peace, freedom, and safety.
The one who offends another after being offended by him,
harms himself and harms the other.
When you feel hurt, but do not hurt the other,
you are truly victorious.
Your practice and your victory benefit both of you.
When you understand the roots of anger in yourself and in the other,
your mind will enjoy true peace, joy, and lightness.
You become the doctor who heals himself and heals the other.
If you don't understand,
you will think not getting angry to be the act of a fool."
Source: Teachings on Love, by Thich Nhat Hahn from The Sutra of 42 Chapters, Taisho 784