In April I am going to post a new topic to explore in the Art Circle. It will be Impermanence which is a rich subject to explore creatively. But first it might be a good idea to talk here about the nature of this Buddhist teaching, and all Buddhist teachings, as upaya.
Upaya is a Sanskrit word that is usually interpreted as "skillful means". An understanding of skillful means is central to understanding Buddhism, because ALL Buddhist teachings are upaya in support of our Zazen.
One way to approach an understanding is to look at two truths....
The first is that we come to Zen seeking solutions to a perceived problem. On some level we feel that something is wrong, that something is off. This off-kilter quality is called dukkha (sanskrit). Dukkha can be shallow or deep, course or subtle. It can be a superficial restlessness and dissatisfaction, or it can be a profound feeling of anguished separation from an intuited "spiritual" source. Dukkha is pervasive and underlies all the great world myths of paradise lost, and of a humanity that has lost its way.
The second truth is what Zen Buddhism proclaims: From the very beginning nothing is wrong, nothing is lost. There is nowhere rise to, and nowhere to fall from. You are, right now, already whole and complete.
These two statements are a contradiction until we see that Dukkha is not a condition that we have fallen into, but an activity we are doing. Dukkha is mind made from moment to moment. This mind activity has a certain momentum or habit energy (karma) but these habits are not immutable. They are subject to reflection and transformation in the light of awareness.
The entirety of the Buddhist teachings are skillful means for the reflection on, and transformation of, mind activity. It is important to understand that the Buddha Way is not ontological. It is not a quest for the "really real" or "highest reality". Just as in the beautiful myth where the Buddha calls the Earth to Witness, our way touches the simple ground, embracing the consensus reality of weight and measure, while transforming Dukkha through skillful means, and realizing its end in Zazen.
Many Buddhist teachings are misunderstood to be fact-statements about the true nature of reality, when they are actually skillful means, antidotes to deeply held perceptions, rather than views to believe in. When they are misunderstood that way it turns the Buddha Way on its head, making the means of freedom into another style of dukkha. Take for example the teaching of Anatman or No Self (sanskrit an-atman, not-self). This teaching is not a statement of fact saying: "There is no self". It is a guided reflection on the deeply conditioned perception of a fixed, enduring, self, and how that perception gives rise to dukkha. It helps to appreciate that this perception is a deeply conditioned habit of mind that in ordinary (uninstructed) life can go completely unexamined as part of our basic operating system. This is why the Buddha devised the specific teaching of anatman. It is an antidote to that karma, to that habit of mind. When we can look deeply into the nature of the perception, the habit will soften and the fixed view is released. The point of Anatman is not to replace the view that there is a self, with a view that there is no self. The purpose of this medicine is to release the mind from either fixed perception. When the mind is not holding a fixed view, the ordinary conventions of selfhood can be embraced without giving rise to dukkha.
Another teaching that is commonly misunderstood to be a fact-statement is Anitya (Sanskrit) which means Impermanence. The teaching on impermanence is, more than any other it seems, taken to be such a fact-statement instead of a skillful means. Yet it too is upaya. Just like "self", permanence is a conditioned perceptual bias that gives rise to Dukkha. And just like the teaching of anatman, the point of this reflection is to free the mind from fixed perceptions of either permanence or impermanence.
When the Buddhist teachings are seen in this light, and understood to be upaya, the result of their practice is the release of fixed views and deeply held ontological assumptions. Once we release these habitual views and assumptions, there is a natural embrace of our sensual world as the ordinary ground, without the need to grasp it as an absolute ground, or to seek that ground elsewhere.
With this understanding it becomes clear how the Buddha Basics support our practice of Zazen, where even such wise teachings are let-go-of in Just Sitting.
Gassho
Daizan
Sat today
Upaya is a Sanskrit word that is usually interpreted as "skillful means". An understanding of skillful means is central to understanding Buddhism, because ALL Buddhist teachings are upaya in support of our Zazen.
One way to approach an understanding is to look at two truths....
The first is that we come to Zen seeking solutions to a perceived problem. On some level we feel that something is wrong, that something is off. This off-kilter quality is called dukkha (sanskrit). Dukkha can be shallow or deep, course or subtle. It can be a superficial restlessness and dissatisfaction, or it can be a profound feeling of anguished separation from an intuited "spiritual" source. Dukkha is pervasive and underlies all the great world myths of paradise lost, and of a humanity that has lost its way.
The second truth is what Zen Buddhism proclaims: From the very beginning nothing is wrong, nothing is lost. There is nowhere rise to, and nowhere to fall from. You are, right now, already whole and complete.
These two statements are a contradiction until we see that Dukkha is not a condition that we have fallen into, but an activity we are doing. Dukkha is mind made from moment to moment. This mind activity has a certain momentum or habit energy (karma) but these habits are not immutable. They are subject to reflection and transformation in the light of awareness.
The entirety of the Buddhist teachings are skillful means for the reflection on, and transformation of, mind activity. It is important to understand that the Buddha Way is not ontological. It is not a quest for the "really real" or "highest reality". Just as in the beautiful myth where the Buddha calls the Earth to Witness, our way touches the simple ground, embracing the consensus reality of weight and measure, while transforming Dukkha through skillful means, and realizing its end in Zazen.
Many Buddhist teachings are misunderstood to be fact-statements about the true nature of reality, when they are actually skillful means, antidotes to deeply held perceptions, rather than views to believe in. When they are misunderstood that way it turns the Buddha Way on its head, making the means of freedom into another style of dukkha. Take for example the teaching of Anatman or No Self (sanskrit an-atman, not-self). This teaching is not a statement of fact saying: "There is no self". It is a guided reflection on the deeply conditioned perception of a fixed, enduring, self, and how that perception gives rise to dukkha. It helps to appreciate that this perception is a deeply conditioned habit of mind that in ordinary (uninstructed) life can go completely unexamined as part of our basic operating system. This is why the Buddha devised the specific teaching of anatman. It is an antidote to that karma, to that habit of mind. When we can look deeply into the nature of the perception, the habit will soften and the fixed view is released. The point of Anatman is not to replace the view that there is a self, with a view that there is no self. The purpose of this medicine is to release the mind from either fixed perception. When the mind is not holding a fixed view, the ordinary conventions of selfhood can be embraced without giving rise to dukkha.
Another teaching that is commonly misunderstood to be a fact-statement is Anitya (Sanskrit) which means Impermanence. The teaching on impermanence is, more than any other it seems, taken to be such a fact-statement instead of a skillful means. Yet it too is upaya. Just like "self", permanence is a conditioned perceptual bias that gives rise to Dukkha. And just like the teaching of anatman, the point of this reflection is to free the mind from fixed perceptions of either permanence or impermanence.
When the Buddhist teachings are seen in this light, and understood to be upaya, the result of their practice is the release of fixed views and deeply held ontological assumptions. Once we release these habitual views and assumptions, there is a natural embrace of our sensual world as the ordinary ground, without the need to grasp it as an absolute ground, or to seek that ground elsewhere.
With this understanding it becomes clear how the Buddha Basics support our practice of Zazen, where even such wise teachings are let-go-of in Just Sitting.
Gassho
Daizan
Sat today
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