Step three is “Right Speech”. This involves both clarity of what is said and speaking kindly and without malice. It avoids harsh language and foolish talk. It is the speech which is true, kind, efficacious and to the point. Notice your speech and know what it says about your character. Notice how often each day we find it necessary to stray from the truth, we will surely find that we do so to protect something unattractive in ourselves. Our attention would be better directed in resolving the unnattractive things. Avoid engaging in gossip, slander, and idle-chatter.
Step four is “Right Behavior”. This involves reflecting on one’s behavior and the reasons for it. It also involves five basic laws of actions for Buddhists: not to kill. This is extended to all animals, meaning that strict buddhists are vegetarians, and harm no living things. Don’t steal, lie, or be unchaste. This means sexial purity, don’t use others for pleasure. Do not drink intoxicants; drugs cloud the mind, and is inconsistant with a desire for selflessness and enlightenment.
Step five is “Right Livelihood”. This involves choosing an occupation that keeps an individual on the Path; that is, a path that promotes life and well being, rather than the accumulation of a lot of money. Our work does take up most of our waking hours, and Buddha considered spiritual progress impossible if most of one’s day was spent pulling against it. The serious spiritual seeker should join the monastic order, and the layperson should engage in an occupation that promotes life rather than destroys it. It would exclude the professions of soldier, fisherman, hunter, or any profession that kills, harms or promotes the hurting of any living being.
Step six is “Right Effort”. This is the effort to avoid wrong conditioning factors. It means training the will and curbing selfish passions and wants. It also means placing oneself along the Path toward Enlightenment. Buddha laid tremendous stress on moral exertion. One must seek to eliminate any evil qualities within and prevent any new ones from arising. One should seek to attain good and moral qualities and develop those already possessed. Seek to grow in maturity and perfection until universal love is attained.
Step seven is “Right Mindfulness”. This implies continuing self-examination and awareness. Nothing has more infulence over life than the mind. “All we are is the result of what we have thought.” Ignorance is life’s primary adversary. One must be observant, contemplative, and free of desire and sorrow. Self awareness will lead to liberation from unconscious, mechanical existance. See everything as ‘it really is’. Maintain a steady attention to your thoughts and feelings.
Step eight is “Right Absorption.” This is the final goal to be absorbed into a state of Nirvana. With the elimination of the three poisons, delusion, craving , and hostility, we see that things are not as we supposed. It is the kind of mental concentration which is presented in every wholesome state of consciousness, and hence is accompanied by at least Right Thought, Right Effort and Right Mindfulness. Compliance to the path does not guarantee reaching Nirvana, but it is the only path that leads to Nirvana. Only by following this path, a Buddhist could have a chance to reach enlightenment, to free oneself from the continuous rounds of birth, death and rebirth, to have reached the ultimate goal — to be absorbed into a state of Nirvana. Ideally, suppositions of whatever sort have vanished, to be replaced by direct perception. The mind reposes in it’s true condition.
What is Zen you ask? If I were a Zen master, I might lift my index finger in reply, or kick a ball, or perhaps slap you for asking. This is not an easy question to answer, since Zen doesn’t fit very well into conventional categories. In one sense, the question can’t be answered at all; in another sense, many different answers can be given. For example, we can look at the origin of the term: the word “Zen” is Japanese, but it is derived from the Indian words “dhyana” (Sanskrit) and “jhana” (Pali), both of which mean “seated meditation”. But this only tells us about the word.
Like Buddhism generally, in Zen there is no mention of God, sin, or how the world was created; unlike the rest of Buddhism, Zen also says very little about rebirth or holiness or even karma. When the Japanese Zen master Hakuin was asked, “What happens to a Zen master after he dies?” he responded “Why ask me?” “But you are a Zen master!” “Yes”, he said, “but not a dead one”. In Zen there is little emphasis on rites and rituals, and even more confusing is that Zen sometimes seems actually anti-religious. A common Zen phrase is, “If you meet the Buddha, kill him!”, so Zen does not seem like a religion in the usual sense of the word.
Zen does have many profound, if often paradoxical, things to say about the nature of reality, but perhaps the most radical claim in Zen is that philosophy is not the way to experience the truth; that philosophizing is part of the problem of life, not the solution, (’you have the philosophers disease!’) because our usual ways of thinking obstruct our experience of reality. In this sense Zen might be called an anti-philosophy. The claim of Zen is quite extraordinary: that Zen practice can lead one to discover one’s true nature – something philosophers have been trying to determine for over 2500 year, but this realization is a non-philosophical experience, which can only occur when we stop clinging to things – especially to concepts and theories about reality. So it cannot be said that Zen is a philosophy, although Zen teachings do have philosophical implications.
Zen wants to provoke us into an experience that is exceedingly rare and precious: Enlightenment. Zen practice is not an attempt to solve the problems of the ego. Its goal is to help us realize there is no ego. Unlike psychotherapy, Zen dialogues are short, sharp and to the point, with no concessions to personal problems.
So is it possible to make any sense out of Zennists? Are they serious or are they just full of crap? Well the answer is yes. They are serious, although we cannot hope to capture their perspective completely with words, which confirms zen’s obsession with that very point; the limits of language. We know very well that menus aren’t meals, and maps aren’t really land. The point Zennists want to make is that too often ’spiritual nourishment’ ends with ‘menu reading’. They believe that words will intervene with a delicate meaning. The Flower Sermon would’ve been pointless if Buddha just sat down and said what he meant. The Zennists would say that he couldn’t have. Reason is too short a ladder to reach the truths full height.
The reasons that language misrepresents reality are many. Language generates self consciousness. Words like “I”, “me”, and “mine”, forces one into phrasing things with the ’self’ as the center of dialogue. Language is said to substitute direct experience, as a for instance:
mountains are not “mountains” and corndogs are not “corndogs”. Mountains are mountains and corndogs are corndogs. Language represents the past and the future as being real, when in fact only the here and now exist. Language contributes to the misconception about the past and the future.
We can begin to understand Zen by defining it’s four key terms; zazan, koan, sanzen, and satori. Zazen literally means ’seated meditation’. The bulk of Zen training is going to be spent in meditation for hours in the lotus position, eyes half open gazing floorward. (i made that word up) There you sit, hour after hour, year after year, trying to awaken the Buddha nature within you. A distinct feature of this meditation is the koans they attend to. A koan is a problem in essence, but a surreal one. As a for instance:
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
What was the appearance of your face before your ancestors were born?
One’s first impulse is to try and clap with one hand and conclude it has no sound,
and then declare that you had no face before your ancestors were born, and these will seem like pretty logical answers that only took ten seconds. So how could one sit for two years trying to discern and answer? Well, a Zen practitioner isn’t permitted to dismiss the questions as absurd, they must direct their full mind to them, but not in what we would think of as reasoning. Zen is convinced there are other ways. It is meant to finally exasperate the rational thinker, until the mind sees that thinking is never more than ‘thinking about.’ Ideally a flash of insight at this point of exsperation will bridge the gap.
Twice a day the Zen practitioner will confront his master in a brief meeting, called sanzen. She will state the koan she’s working on, and follow it with and ‘answer’, which the master will either confirm or reject. But what is the point, you ask? In spite of its rather special character, Zen is purely Buddhistic in its essence because its aim is no other than that of the Buddha himself: the attainment of enlightenment, an experience known in Zen as satori. Zen is unique in that it concentrates exclusively on this experience and is not interested in any further interpretations. Satori is the first important breakthrough which is Zen’s version of the mystical experience. The experience may come in a flash of understanding, it is described as sense of reality which defies ordinary language. Zen is determined to widen the doors of perception so that the satori experience can seep into everyday life. The difference between Satori and the mystical experience, is that satori is seen as just the beginning of the quest.This is how Satori is seen as an ‘introverted mystical experience’.
Another important aspect to Zen, is the Tao. Tao is the way of nature, it’s the principle of growth and development of all things, including humanity.. In the writings of The Tao Te Ching, Tao is described as having existed before heaven and earth. Tao is formless, stands alone without change and reaches everywhere without harm. The Tao however, is a bit of a mystery, because even though the Tao is called Tao, the Tao has no name. The very first verse in the Tao Te Ching;
The way you can go,
is not the way.
The name you can say
isn’t the real name.
The poem goes on to say that ‘names’s the mother of the ten thousand things’. This seems consistant with the Zen problem of language misrepresenting reality, which i’m sure is why ‘the Tao has no name’. Since it’s near impossible to say exactly what Tao is, we can at least say what Tao isn’t. Tao is not God, Tao isn’t beyond the material world. Tao isn’t Brahman, there’s no mystical experience required to come into harmony with the Tao. Tao is not Nirvana, it is not a state of being. Tao is not physical nature.
Te is the Tao of ordinary life. It points to the natural goodness of the simple life, and the spontanious goodness of simple people. A verse from the 46th poem of the Tao Te Ching:
The greatest evil: wanting more.
The worst luck, discontent.
Greed’s the curse of life.
Unlike a lot of the Tao Te Ching, this verse requires little interpretation. It points to the reality that the simple life is the best life, and one shouldn’t be dissatasfied. It can be compared with tanha, the desire for private fulfillment, which is something that needs to be eliminated in Buddhist practice. The last stanza of the poem;
To know enough’s enough
is enough to know.
I think that this means that it’s important to know when you’re leading a life of indulgence, or when to be content that you’re living the good and simple life. It is ‘enough to know’ when you know when to say ‘enough’s enough’. It makes more sense (to me) backwards, and although it’s presented in it’s rawest form possible, it still catches one off guard, strikes one as being complicated. It’s a pretty simple statement, but it’s a big statement. All you need to know is when to stop wanting more.
A big aspect of the Tao is Ch’i; using the stuff you’ve got, and doing everything you can to accumulate more. Ch’i is the ‘life force’ , spiritual power, “mojo”, or spiritual substance. The ’stuff of life’ if you will. Over and over in the Tao Te Ching La Tzu says ‘wu wei’. It translates to mean something along the lines of ‘do without doing’. It’s action by inaction. “you do nothing yet it gets done. . .”
Not prizing rare treasures
keeps people from stealing.
Not looking at the desireable
keeps the mind quiet.
* * *
When you do not-doing,
nothing’s out of order.
So wu-wei is kind of like getting the best milage out of the Ch’i in your tank. Not accelerating down hills and such, using your Ch’i wisely; a minumum Ch’i expenditure. Sometimes the best way to get things done is by not doing anything. Act without acting.
I think we could all take a lesson in Ch’i management. Sometimes in life the best thing to do is “just leave it alone.” Too often perhaps we put a lot of time and energy into trying to make things go our way, or trying to remedy things in hopes that things will go our way. Trying to make someone ‘feel better’ by ‘talking about it’ is often the wrong thing to do. What might be seen by many as a passive attitude is far from it, however not consistant with the American way. The best course of action, may be no action.
Buddhism, Zen, and the Tao make no promises of forgiveness or eternal life. Buddhists hope to enter into the state of Nirvana, but there is no clear, objective proof or teaching on what occurs beyond the grave. Even Buddha himself was not certain what lay beyond death. He left no clear teaching on Nirvana or eternity. What he did leave are philosophical speculations. Today the body of Buddha lies in a grave in Kusinara, at the foot of the Himalaya Mountains. The facts of life after death still remain an unsolved mystery in Buddhism. This is a point of concern for some, who want answers, but the Buddha, and Zen are not God, Buddha never claimed to be anything more than a man. He never claimed to know any answers.
As Americans, most of our religions involve a clear cut picture of exactly who God is, and what he’s about. There isn’t much room for speculation if you’re religious person and you believe what the scriptures of your specific religion are telling you. Regardless if there’s a God or there isn’t – the old argument stands: They can’t all be right. Even the simple comparisson of Buddhism and Christianity leaves you with two very opposite ideas about what life is all about. The two are so different, they cannot both be right at the same time, nor can the two be blended together, or should be.
The United States of America may be the most powerful, wealthy, and attractive country in the world. The varieties of class, individuality, religion, and race are a few of the enrichments within the “melting pot” of our society. The blend of these numerous diversities is the crucial ingredient to our modern nation. Even though America has been formed upon these diversities, its inhabitants- the “average American”- have a single thing in common; a single idea; a single goal; the American Dream. The original dream consisted of a seemingly simple concept; success. Americans dreamed of a successful marriage, family, successful job, and own a Victorian-style home with a white picket fence and an oak tree with a swing tire in the front yard, 2.5 children and a golden retreaver.
It seems to be honest enough, sincere enough, attainable enough; but i’m not so sure it’s still here. It seems to me, that the American Dream has gone from success, freedom, and happiness to having lots of money and dying with the most toys. It has been said that Americans are no longer trying to keep up with the Joneses, we’re instead trying to keep up with Bill Gates. We all wanna make our million. We’ve got dukkha coming out our ears. 5 years ago my dad owned a 86 Jeep Cherokee. Today, my garage has a 1969 stingray corvette in it. American Dream? I think not. Ridiculous? Indeed. Now maybe i only feel this way because i’m not allowed to breathe on it…..but i think i’m on to something here.
It seems almost embarassing to consider that the Buddhists are over there trying to achieve enlightenment, and we’re over here spending $85 a week to have someone clean our house because we’d rather be golfing. They’re over there renouncing all their material posessions to find the meaning of life, and we still think the meaning of life is material posessions. The Buddha sat in the woods for 6 years to reach nirvana, and we spend $65,000 on a SUV so we can drive through the woods listening to Nirvana on our cd player.
The so-called American Dream that got discarded as soon as “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” started airing could use a heavy dose of the Buddha nature, and at least find some happy meduim. America could sure use a ‘middle path’ about now.
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