BOOK OF EQUANIMITY - Case 58

[Roland]

What is "our own" in "your own greed, anger and divisive thinking"? It is as much or as little "mine" as the thoughts which pop up and evaporate while just sitting. Yet, on another level, they have an impact on "me" and the "others". The greed, anger, divisive thinking, fear come from past and present, from "myself" and "others", which makes me feel responsible for my speech, thoughts and actions, yet while sitting, it somehow all drops away giving space for quietness and compassion.

Gassho

Roland
#SatToday

[Tairin]

I tend to have trouble with the concept of karma because my Western trained mind associates karma and reincarnation. I struggle with how I feel about reincarnation but if karma is viewed as the pattern of cause and effect then it is something very fundamental. I truly believe that the consequence of past Warren's behaviours and actions have an impact on the present Warren. The same way what present Warren does impacts the possible future Warrens. I think the key is to not sit and dwell on the future Warren but to, in this present moment, be the best Warren I can be. If I do that then the future takes care of itself.

Reminds me of the saying "The true test of a man's character is what he does when no one is watching" (John Wooden)

Gassho
Warren
Sat today

[Eishuu]

I sometimes think of karma as well worn patterns or pathways of thought or even neural networks. I had a moment the other week when I noticed a familiar pattern of thought pop into my mind - anxiety about the state of the garden - which normally leads me to nagging my husband to do some weeding, etc, which might then lead to an argument or bad feeling/resentment. (as a bit of context I'm not able to do it myself because of health issues, which leads to frustration) But rather than act on it by saying something, I was able to chose not to, realising that it would create an unpleasant experience for him and just wasn't necessary, and that it was my own anxiety - so somehow I let the whole situation go. The garden has got quite wild, but I am appreciating the beauty of that.

I feel like Zazen is allowing me to start to drop thoughts and feelings off the cushion as well as on, preventing familiar patterns of behaviour and events from reoccurring. I enjoy the spaciousness that Zazen gives me and the feeling that I don't have to take my thoughts so seriously, and that there is the possibility to break the feeling/thought - behaviour/speech - cause-effect cycle.


Gassho
Lucy
Sat today

[Jakuden]

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread, so many great comments. I am learning a lot from everyone's take on this.

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday

[Toun]

Enjoyed the comments!
With much gratitude.

Gassho
Mike

Sat2day

[orangedice]

Helloooo, it's been awhile since I've posted. I've been catching up on the Book of Equanimity study, which I've been enjoying very much--I bought the book awhile ago but felt overwhelmed in studying it solo. I haven't been able to join in on the older ones since they're locked, but I'm glad I'm caught up enough to join the discussion. It actually comes at the right time, because I had a lot of... emotions with this koan, more so than any of the previous ones. Especially because of all the deaths happening at the hands of police. This koan, to me, seems to excuse violence in a way. People of color, and Black people specifically, have been put down, beaten, and killed. They've been reviled and oppressed by institutional racism and laws. To me, the koan seems to say that it's the oppressed people's fault that they are being reviled and killed, because of this line, "that person has acquired negative karma in a previous existence." And that is absolutely wrong to me.

BUT Adam's comment has helped me understand the koan better: "Long story short, if we recognize karma as the movement of history up to this point we can see what happens next is in some part up to us." So yes, centuries of oppression has led us to this moment. And we can change it. Still... is that what the koan originally meant??

My anger bubbled up when trying to answer Jundo's question "Is your own greed, anger, and divisive thinking causing you to fall into your personal hell?" I went through those negative thoughts, and this is what I wrote under anger.

I don't consider myself an angry person in my personal/social life. But when it comes to social justice, that is another matter. I think the oppressed have a right to be angry. They/we are already being beaten down, and passivity allows the status quo to continue the violence. Movements like #BlackLivesMatter are nonviolent, yet they are still being beaten and hurt.

How is this delusion? Should we ignore these injustices because we should suffer in silence? Because we shouldn't become attached to the thought that "there should be justice"?

Anyway, lots of mixed feelings and thoughts on this koan.

Gassho,
June
#SatToday

[Jundo]

My anger bubbled up when trying to answer Jundo's question "

Hi June,

I usually post the following when the topic of "righteous anger" comes up ... it may be "justified", but it is also playing with fire. I prefer "righteous indignation" which might spur us on to seek justice.

Can there be Righteous Anger? Is there a time when anger is acceptable, and not simply justified? Or as Buddhists who cultivate peace and hold to the Bodhisattva Vows that say Do not hold on to anger, are we to always try and put aside the anger in favor of compassion and peacefulness?

:evil: or 8)

This is an interesting question. You have probably seen, in Tibetan Buddhism, images of "wrathful" deities who turn their "pure anger" toward such causes as the protection of the Dharma and the saving of all Sentient Beings ... their wrath is directed at fighting evil, fire with fire ...

http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/deities/wrathful_deities.htm

Anger is also a natural part of being human ... like sadness and fear ... and we should not be angry about sometimes getting a little angry (or sad about sometimes being sad, etc.). That's just how our animal brains are wired.

HOWEVER, unlike sadness (which is just part of the scenery of life, rainy days following sunny), or fear (which may even serve to keep us safe and out of harm's way if held in moderation) ... anger is truly fire & TNT, and has potential to do great harm. It is more likely to end up as a fight in a bar, a broken relationship or starting a war than it is to do any positive good. As well, there are other emotions and perspective which can accomplish the positive goods more effectively.

So, for example, calm reflection, looking for a constructive solution and keeping one's head as much as possible while taking effective action is an approach more likely to solve a problem in this world or in one's life than tossing more fuel on the fires of hate. ... Perhaps, "righteous indignation" or "tough love" (if a parent ... even the Zen Master's "30 blows" are more of this kind) or "a firm hand with a calm mind" may be justified by a situation ...

... but I would say that anger is rarely, if ever, an appropriate response.

We discuss the subject more during out study study of the Jukai Precepts ...

Also this, on playing with fire ...

[T]o fully remove these emotions from the human mind ... including potentially harmful emotions such as anger ... would rob of us of an important part of being human. We would be reduced to living in a way as emotionally numb and dull as a piece of cold wood or a stone. Some schools of Buddhism (and some other Eastern and Western religions too) have sought to completely kill or squelch such emotions within us (sometimes many other human emotions too). This has traditionally been described as pouring water on the fire until coals become completely wet and cool, and the fire is completely out.

When Buddhism came to China, Korea, Tibet and Japan ... the Buddhist teachings on the emotions subtly changed (I paint with a broad brush, but I speak as a general trend). The fires of emotions were not seen as necessarily negative things, but they must be handled carefully and with balance. A campfire, so useful for cooking our supper if skillfully made, will quickly burn down the woods if left untended. A single candle which offers light can burn us and others, and the whole house down, if handled wrong. So it is with our emotions.

...

... Thus I say that the Precepts guide us away from excess and uncontrolled anger, greed, jealousy ... Anger at injustices in the world, for example, may spur us on to fight for change ... yet that anger should be kept in balance, and tempered with an equal dose of acceptance of life, lest it burns us to ashes too. The desire for change should not be allowed to run rampant as greed for and attachment to change from 'how things are'. A healthy dose of competition need not become jealousy and violence. We should use strong words much as we would scold a 3 year old child found playing with matches ... that is, with love and concern and understanding, not simply to hurt the child. A harsh word can be an "intervention" to shake a friend up who needs to hear ... or it can simply be a cruel and destructive word meant to hurt someone (the most famous example of "Zen tough love" may be all those old tough talking Masters administering "40 blows" of Wisdom). Thus, do not extinguish life fires ... but handle them with care and use them in constructive ways!

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?8266-Playing-With-Fire

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Jishin]

Especially because of all the deaths happening at the hands of police.

Hi June,

A good portion of the police force suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This means that they can over react to situations that may be dangerous. Not any different than a woman who has been sexually assaulted or a soldier exposed to war. The public forgets about this and the police force does not seek help for fear of losing their jobs. They are victims of violence too.

Just my 2 cents.

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Meishin]

Hi June,

A good portion of the police force suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This means that they can over react to situations that may be dangerous. Not any different than a woman who has been sexually assaulted or a soldier exposed to war. The public forgets about this and the police force does not seek help for fear of losing their jobs. They are victims of violence too.

Just my 2 cents.

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

Yes. Here is a link to a good article : http://www.policemag.com/channel/car...-and-ptsd.aspx

Gassho
Meishin
sat today

[Jishin]

Yes. Here is a link to a good article : http://www.policemag.com/channel/car...-and-ptsd.aspx

Gassho
Meishin
sat today

Nice article. Direct or indirect contact with patients leads to PTSD too but nobody talks about this either.

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Hoko]

Regarding Case 58:
To be despised by the people of this world is to extinguish the sins of the past.
To be separated from the past is to break the cause from the effect and smash the wheel of karma.
Who can peel the backing from this mirror?
I may break off a piece of the Kit Kat bar but ultimately I'm going to eat the whole thing!
(And when I'm done I'll still be hungry...)

Gassho
K2
#SatToday

[orangedice]

Thank you Jundo, this is definitely something I have to work with. It will be hard, to say the least. AAHH. I think this is what is really difficult for me:

Anger at injustices in the world, for example, may spur us on to fight for change ... yet that anger should be kept in balance, and tempered with an equal dose of acceptance of life, lest it burns us to ashes too.

It's the "acceptance" part. Maybe it's the connotation. Acceptance to me is like... condoning. So accepting that the world is how it is also means condoning the evil things in the world. I acknowledge they exist. Is that what acceptance is? I want to be constructive; I don't want to be angry; I don't want there to be anything to be angry about, but there is. I'm struggling so hard to accept this and temper my anger and despair. I try to remember to have thoughts of compassion and lovingkindness even for those who I consider are doing these despicable things, but it's so hard for me. This is definitely something for me to try to learn in my heart. Time for some more frequent lovingkindness meditation I think...

Thank you again.

Jishin, PTSD is a huge problem, and unfortunately, even with awareness, the social stigma against mental health issues holds us back dearly. But does that explain the officers who shoot to kill someone with their hands up? And disproportionately black men and women? That's what really gets me boiled up. I'd be happy to talk more about this through PM so I'm not clogging up the thread. Thank you for sharing the article.

Thank you to everybody. Gassho,
June
SatTodayEvenThoughItWasOnlyForAFewMinutes

[AlanLa]

Is my greed, anger and ignorance causing me to fall into my own little hells? Yes.
Can I experience how those hells (heavens) are empty? Yes.
BUT
I tend to focus on the causation aspect of emptiness rather than the suchness. That is, I focus more on form as emptiness rather than emptiness as form. It's become my default position, and for the most part it works pretty well. And when it doesn't, emptiness as form is my fallback position. So, one way or another, my little hells don't last too long, and my heavens always get disturbed at some point. I just try to surf the waves as best I can and pick myself up when I fall.
BUT
What I got out of this koan and thread was that I seem to be focusing on one surfing style rather than learning to use both with equal ease. But saying that, I also see how I treat the styles as a duality rather than as a whole. To experience that wholeness is my challenge.

I say the verse of atonement at the end of every zazen. I like how it helps me find my greed, anger, and ignorance so that I can let them go. It is a very valuable part of my practice. My life provides me an endless supply of karmic material to work with, and I suppose I need to be more grateful about that.

[Mitty-san]

This reminds by of an old Buddhist Sutra called: Sallatha Sutta: The Arrow.

The Blessed One said, "When touched with a feeling of pain, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. So he feels two pains, physical & mental. Just as if they were to shoot a man with an arrow and, right afterward, were to shoot him with another one, so that he would feel the pains of two arrows; in the same way, when touched with a feeling of pain, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. So he feels two pains, physical & mental.

"Now, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones, when touched with a feeling of pain, does not sorrow, grieve, or lament, does not beat his breast or become distraught. So he feels one pain: physical, but not mental. Just as if they were to shoot a man with an arrow and, right afterward, did not shoot him with another one, so that he would feel the pain of only one arrow. In the same way, when touched with a feeling of pain, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones does not sorrow, grieve, or lament, does not beat his breast or become distraught. He feels one pain: physical, but not mental.

In my own experience with some physical pain, the mental pain can be strong. I think how did I let this happen? What if it gets worse? What if there's permanent damage or chronic pain?

I've sometimes found being mindful of phyiscal pain can help make it feel less overwhelming. I focus on experiencing it just as it is.

Even if something non-physically bad happens, such as losing a job or loved one, there's always a lot of suffering while going through the stages of grief.

In regard to staying out of hell or keeping the stay there short, for me at least, each struggle is different. but living a simple life helps. The less fancy things I have the less fancy things there are to worry about. Driving by fancy houses sometimes I think how much of a hassle it would be to maintain a house like that and the accompanying lifestyle.

On the other hand, sometimes it's helpful to stay in hell for a bit to see what demons turn up and what can be learned from them.

Gassho ,
Paul