Ecodharma: Chapter 4

[Kokuu]

I am going to split this chapter into three parts, based on how it is divided in the book, with this first part encompassing pages 101-106 (from the beginning of the chapter to the section titled ‘Our Collective Predicament’).

Here, David Loy points out that Buddhism has almost always been seen to apply to the awakening of individuals, rather than to see the greed, anger and ignorance present in social systems that causes suffering. He suggests that we need to focus more on this ‘social dukkha’.

He points out that just because the Buddha did not talk about climate change and other environmental issues, and was unaware of most of the basic understanding of science that we take for granted now, does not mean that these things cannot be part of a evolving Buddhist tradition.

Loy looks at the predicament of the individual in terms of Buddhist thought, and terms our seeking after external things into two groups:

1. Lack projects, which fill our sense of lack
2. Reality projects, which make us feel more real, and feed our ego

Questions for this week, and feel free also to respond to anything else in this section which speaks to you:

Do you think that Loy accurately summarises the Buddhist approach to our individual predicamants? Is there anything you would change?

What in your own life can you identify as lack projects and reality projects?

Next week we will look at how David sees our collective predicament in Buddhist terms.

Gassho
Kokuu

[Kaisui]

I really liked the section describing the individual predicament as seen in Buddhism. I thought it gave a really clear and surprisingly simple explanation of dukkha/suffering that would be good to show people if I want to explain this part of the Buddhist perspective and response. I haven't shown it to anyone yet, but perhaps I could report back here if I do.

I find in my life that anything becomes a lack project depending on how I'm looking at it. For example, catching up on this reading group, I may be doing it because it resonates for me as the right thing to do, and/or I may be doing it because I feel ashamed if I do not keep up with something I said I would do and I'm worried that others will notice and what they think of me. I do feel both of those things. I try to catch myself and observe when I feel something is threatening or inflating my sense of self, when I feel that I need to do x or y because of what it means about me, and then kind of look beyond that or deconstruct that. Is there another way to look at this?

I think the different ways we approach something, whether coming from a sense of lack or not, make a big difference to how we respond. Just like Loy said, 'The focus shifts from "How can I become more real?" to "what can I do to make this world a better place for all of us?"' For me, when feeling I should catch up on this reading group recently, I took a moment (bit of insta zazen) and remembered how meaningful it always is when I engage with Buddhist texts, and then I resolved to forget about how behind I was in that moment and just engage with the text fully from where I was up to, allowing myself to spend however long I needed on any page or paragraph and see what happens... and I'm sure that worked out better and more connected/meaningful than trying to catch up because I don't want to look bad.

Gassho,
Kaisui
sat/lah

[DanM]

I found Loy's description of our individual predicament to be pretty accurate, and found it easy to relate to my own experience. I spent a large portion of my life developing an identity out of the style of music I listened to, and I can locate both lack and reality projects here.

For the former, buying records is the first one that springs to mind. I hear some new band that I like and I almost immediately start thinking about how I want to buy their music on vinyl and that I'm lacking something by not owning a physical copy.

A reality project is related to this, and that is identifying as a "punk". From my mid-teens until I was about 30 I filtered much of my existence through this lens. I joined a distinct community with shared values, musical taste, fashion, etc. Buying records was part of this - the scene fetishizes record collecting and sees it as a mark of authenticity. I thought all this gave me a stable identity and sense of self - building myself an airplane, to use the Trungpa analogy that Loy employs in the book. When I was 30 I got a bit jaded with it all, walked away from it and quite intentionally deconstructed this identity. I hadn't discovered zen or teachings about "no-self" at that point, but it taught me a lot about my "self" being in flux. I got back in to punk a few years ago but I don't really cling to it as an identity. But while I realise equating someone's record collection with authenticity is ridiculous, I'm still too attached to wanting to buy records, especially considering they're not the most environmentally-friendly products!

Gassho,
Dan
ST/LAH

[Tairin]

Like Kaisui I thought Loy’s description of the individual predicament as seen by Buddhism was clear and simple.

Maybe this should have been more obvious to me but I find that I am learning more about a Buddhist perspective in this book than I am specifically on ecology or the environment. Of course I get the sense that Loy is still setting the stage….

What in your own life can you identify as lack projects and reality projects?

If I am being honest I am struggling to find something that is 100% not a lack project. So many of the things I do feel like they have some element of trying to satisfy a craving of money, material possessions, reputation, power, physical attractiveness etc. Not that I am a power hungry, money grubbing egomaniac either. Since this is a Zen Sangha I know I should say that my sitting Zazen is not a lack project but if I am honest even then there are days when I feel I am sitting with some gaining mind.

Sort of a non-answer answer I suppose


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Kokuu]

Thank you all for sticking with this reading and commenting. It is always great to read your responses.

Kaisui - I think that it is okay to acknowledge that we often have multiple motives for doing something and that is okay. Just being aware of that is the important thing. I am posting a new section this morning partly because I am really motivated by this material and love to engage with it, but also a whole lot because I said I would and do not want to be seen to fail to live up to that! I really like how you reconnected with your original intention and joy in engaging with Buddhist texts and think that we can forget about that when we meet some resistance in terms of being tired or just wanting to do something more mindless so thank you for the reminder. By focussing on the 'good' part of our intention, it can bring our attention back to it, just as can focussing on the more mundane motive.

Dan - I totally resonate with that and also spent a good part of my teens and 20s using music to forge an identity but you are right that at some point most people do see through that, and changing times and fashions doubtless help (in my own case being a goth in the 80s was never exactly cool but being an 80s goth in the 90s and 00s was even less so!). It is great that you have been able to reconnect with the music again but with less clinging. As I imagine you have recognised, this is totally akin to the Buddhist path of being attached to self, seeing through the self, then integrating the two so that we can still be our small self but we understand that it is a construction necessary to live in the relative world rather than wholly real.

Tairin - thank you for your honesty. I find the same for myself in terms of lack projects, and sometimes I wonder if my collection of Zen books is just to fill my ego of being a 'Zen guy'. Of course, as I was saying to Kaisui, we can recognise that our motives for doing something are rarely clear cut and there can be an element of 'pure' intention as well as something more self-fulfilling. I don't think there is a problem as long as we are aware of that, and acknowledge that even sitting Zazen comes with hopes of self-improvement. Our goal is not to turn into beings with perfect intent but rather an awareness of all that is, and the fact that this self that we usually see, with all of its good points and bad, is not all that there is.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[DanM]

Thank you Kokuu. I have recognised that. It’s funny how letting go of the small self can make you more comfortable with it.

Gassho,
Dan
ST/LAH

[Tairin]

Our goal is not to turn into beings with perfect intent but rather an awareness of all that is, and the fact that this self that we usually see, with all of its good points and bad, is not all that there is.

Thank you Kokuu. I very much agree.


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Heiso]

Sorry, I've had a busy couple of weeks so also playing catch up - like Tairin I think I'm learning as much about new ways to frame the Buddhist perspective as the ecology, which is no bad thing because it makes a lot of sense to me. I particularly liked the way Loy describes how we try to secure ourselves through a sense of identity.

Like Dan I invested heavily in identifying with particular groups when I was younger and probably still do now but I too have become much more aware of the role attachment plays so am much more conscious of this mental process. I possibly go too far the other way at times in just walking away from things.

I agree that to an extent, most of what I do is some sort of Lack Project, from being growing plants/allotment guy, to zen guy, to my job. And if I'm being brutally honest, I wonder if there is an element of it in being a parent.

I really took a lot from this section and liked the way Loy frames his conclusion by explaining how groundlessness transforms the world and my approach to it from being about how I can satisfy my needs, to how I can help make it better.

Gassho,

Heiso

StLah

[Doshin]

Thank you for your thoughts. I am keeping up with your posts but have been moving the last couple of weeks. My book is hiding from me, I think it is a hundred miles away I hope to retrieve it soon.

Doshin