Buddhism, Power and Sexual Abuse? Looking for Ideal and Perfect Teachers.

                                                                         

IDEAL AND PERFECT TEACHERS

Hi.

     Today I would like to address an issue that has been floating around for a little while and that's the abuse of position that some of our teachers and mentors seem to have committed over the past few decades. This of course includes sexual abuse, drug abuse, power abuse, and financial abuse. It's a lot to consider and the forums and blogs have been all over the place.

     I put the responsibility on those of us who are seeking guidance and I put the same responsibility on those who blindly abuse the power of authority. Yes know there are all the rationales concerning how weak and vulnerable us seekers are and I am aware that there are always people who are willing to allow themselves to be abused in exchange for self worth but I still place the responsibility on us as a community.

     Anytime anyone has the least bit of authority there is a chance that they will end up abusing the power that is implied in the position. The more you actually look at this the more complicated it gets. As a society and culture it is axiomatic that some "titles" will come with a certain amount of implied respect and power regardless if the person in the position is responsible or not. We have the tendency to place our "trust" in these people not because we know that they are trust worthy but simply due to the position they hold. Consider the idea of being a teacher or a guide. Very little seems to be said about the ego function that it takes to teach. No matter how humble or how much someone loves teaching it still involves a hefty ego function. You can believe it or not but my position says ego comes with being in front of people. On some level a teacher craves attention. They enjoy the position. Now this doesn't mean that every teacher lets their ego run the show. Being a good teacher includes the process of checking your ego on a continuous basis. Much like a therapist. Teachers need to be painfully honest with themselves and others. 

     Anyone who takes advantage of that power needs to be removed from power either by a higher authority or on a deeper level the authority of the individual. Now much of this hinges on the idea of proof. But even the idea of proof gets a little fuzzy when we examine it deeply. There may always be some doubt about whether a person actual acted out with intention to harm. Or that a person is acting as the sole agency. Personally I believe that  since there is no separate self and we are all connected that every action is in effect influenced by others. But at least for a higher authority if proof exists then the person needs to be removed.

     On a deeper and personal level and as far as an  individuals power is concerned we all  have the power to discontinue  supporting a person or persons who abuse power. You don't need to prove anything at all. You look in your heart and make the decision. You can simply ignore that person, their teachings, and move on to seek new information.

  . We don't need ideal hero's when it comes to finding new principles to lead our lives. What we need is the information to enable processing to action. I know that there are a lot of charismatic people out there. I know we all look for a combination of rock star, mother and father, and genius who is going to answer all our questions and nurture us. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!

     We cannot let people play "victim." Not ourselves and not others. Some one somewhere long before some of these people elected to start hero worshiping THE GUIDES, TEACHERS, AND MENTORS, should have stepped in and redirected this person. No excuses. Most abuse issues did not "just happen" but were part of a long slope that requires complicity on a lot of levels. Buyer beware is not a bad concept when it comes to allowing someone to help direct your spiritual seeking.

     We are all pretty screwed when it comes to our emotional structure. It's why Gotamas message was to important. His message provides a way to have our emotional structure but protect ourselves by not being reactive to the emotions themselves and in turn protect others. None of us knows exactly what's going to happen next or how we will respond. Thinking and expecting anyone to react according to our preconceptions is a big component of suffering. We just don't know how we or others will respond to the next experience of context and content.

     A long time ago Gotama said, Hey guys don't just believe what I am saying you need to check it out until you are satisfied that it works. Excellent Advice. So the first thing we need to do is start learning and teaching others that principle. We need to initiate the relationship with the idea that curiosity, doubt, and personal safety are valued components.

     Will any of this stop abuse? Probably not. Whenever there is a power structure there is going to be a chance of abuse. We can make changes and protect ourselves and others. 

As always I would love to hear your thoughts and comments. 

Bryan S. Wagner

Seperate Self and the No Self

                            There is no Not the Self!
                     There is also not the Separate Self!!!

 

      Recently I posted my "view" and "belief" concerning the "Four Noble Truths" and what I believe to be a useful interpretation of the message. Some of the feedback I recieved was very positive and some not so much. I think part of the negative response was fueled by people who seem to believe that I have an agenda. I do. Here it is. I want to give meaning to Gotama's message and method that everyone can use to reduce whatever kind of suffering they are experiencing. I am not concerned about being right. I am concerned with presenting the Dharma in a way that is effective for anyone who gets up in the morning. I'm not trying to influence anyone to take any new direction. Your direction will be the one your chose. I am writing entirely in support of everyone. My terminology or outlook may differ, but I am sharing to reduce our suffering.

     In short the original message was meant to encourage us to live well in the stream of transience. Not just identify change as a concept but embrace the concept in our actions and modes of living. The way to lessen the impact of transience is to live as close to the moment of experience as possible. I see the "Noble Truths" as a means to a way of life not just a concept to be used and formed to fit out contexts and personal agenda.

     In addition I want to explore the concept and the ongoing argument concerning a "self" and the presence of knowing the now.

     In order for a now to exist it exists in relationship to something. Now is a term that is in reference to time. Time is a human concept used to enable memory and social funtioning. I do want to get into any arguments with you physicists and mathematicians. .If an experience is not in relationship then it can't be a now. The relationship is highly reliant on the memory and thoughts about the past. The past was and is now in the moment. We utilize both our memory and the context and content of "right in the moment" when we are remembering something. For those who insist that there is no past in the now I would suggest they go outside and look at the sun. Feel the warmth and brightness and enjoy the colors. Understand that the "sun" they are experiencing is several minutes old. It is not the "now" sun it is the "sun" of several minutes ago. Hmm. We can develop a sunburn from the energy of sun that is generated in the past. It seems pretty real and present. although it represents something that is past. Don't forget that the image and effect of the sun is "real" even though it started out eight minutes ago.

    The future currently presents itself as a mental construct. And yet the now is the future. As I type I go through now which was a second ago's future.  If we speak in terms of how we register electrical input we are always in the past and never the now and constantly behind the future. Neurological science has come a long way since Gotama initially developed the Four Noble Truth scenario. As science progresses it continues to imply that Gotama knew what he was talking about.

     Without the future and past the now has no meaning. It can't be now. It is only now in relationship to the past and future. Even then the now moves into the future and remembers the past. I see it as a point on a continuum, always moving through time, bracketed by past and future. The past has existed at one time the future will exist at another.Our ability to remember gives us that concrete feeling of stability and flow. Memory is the thread that connects past, now, and the next now.

     We have this ongoing argument in "spiritual" circles concerning the idea of a "self." Some believe there is no "self" that the self is a belief construct of conditioning, memory, and the mind. I myself believe that there are many serial selves connected by memory and they/it coexists with the universe. Self exists connected in a never ending flow from birth to death. What was before and what was after birth and death I have no idea. Anyone who says they do has never been able to move it beyond a belief system. I think the belief systems are great. However that's all they are.

     Who I think I am is who I am in the moment I am thinking it. Along the same issue is the idea of a "I am." The "I am." is what's left when everything else is gone. It is the single experience of everything else. The "Am" is the focal point of our sum experience at the point of the experience. It doesn't change and has no need to change. The "I Am" has one job and that job is to experience being and not think. Is the "I am" a phenomena of the ability to remember and recognize the past? I don't know. At this juncture I don't particularly care. I experience the "I am" and that's enough.

     Recently I was involved in a discussion concerning the Buddhist issue of no-self and I was able to air the following idea. My personal belief is  that when everything else is let go of there is an "I am." It is what's always aware of relationship. No it's not changing as a rapid fire event like much of the universe but as pure awareness it evolves. The "I am" is the awareness in the brief span of time between was and isn't. Often I hear people relate the concept of no separate self to that of no self. These are different concepts and to combine them can be confusing.

     We know from science that there is no real separate self when we see our environment and all the connections that exist. We live in a single bio-sphere that we have just recently realized we need to take care of so we don't damage it further than we already have. We are all connected in every way possible. We live in the illusion of being separate because we are mobile and move about and have limited means to communicate with otheres. But science proves that there is no separate self and in fact when we embrace this concept we become more aware of our need to maintain a caretaker mode involving what's around us.

     No self can be confusing because much of our orientation in Zen is waking up. The no self does not wake up. It cannot. The "I am" can awake, recognize funtioning, and start to track from that awake perspective. The "I am" becoming aware of itself is necessary for any changes to take place. Most of us who have been meditating for some time become aware of the "I am." It's what is aware of the watcher who is aware of the meditator. If you plant a seed and watch it grow everyday then you will understand that it is never the same seed or plant that you originally planted. You will also understand that although it's never the same it's still a plant for the time period it exists in this universe. It is never a "no plant." So it's helpful to view the "I am" as a non-self. Non-self is a perspective on how to live our lives in complete freedom. It is not to be confused with the idea of not having what we call a self.

     I think this is a good perspective that helps us evolve as people studying the Dharma.

     Being aware is paying attention to what is happening in the moment. Attention pulses with what is happening around it. Awareness also pulses with what happens in our environment. Remembering these pulses and waves of knowing is a part of what gives us the "isolated autonomous" self feeling.

     The oddest thing about all this is that people can adopt and use Gotama's system regardless of whether they believe there is a self or not.

    Honestly? I think thinking may be highly over rated as a survival mechanism!

As always I enjoy any and all feedback.

Be good to you.
Bryan S. Wagner

The Eight Fold Path an Observation

Good day!

     This will be the fourth installment of a series about the Four Noble Truths. This will cover the Eightfold path which has been related as the actual means to "end" suffering. In the last installment I made it clear that I do not have a belief system that says we terminate or end suffering. Part of my reasoning is I do have a belief system in the reality of change. That everything I am aware of exists in transience. So we can't "end" anything. The concept of ending anything involving emotional content or human processing means considering a finality that doesn't exist.

     However we can greatly reduce suffering by making some careful choices on how we interact in the world particularly with other humans but also with everything we encounter in general. The Eight Fold Path was adopted to give substance and form to the areas that humans need to be aware of in order to reduce and avoid suffering. Sometimes referred to as the Middle Way it points towards behavior and thinking that can set the tone for a persons entire life cycle.

  The Eight Fold Path was not invented by Siddhartha but had been in existence in various permutations for centuries before Siddhartha enveloped it into his teachings. The idea is not particularly astounding or original. He made it clear that this message was borrowed from existing paths. I suspect that this was not a part of the initial teachings but an addendum that was added and processed later for Sangha to have as a tool to use in their endeavors. When initially examining this section of the Four truths it is helpful to interpret the name with an emphasis on Fold. The Eight Fold path. Folding which in this context means placing next to and blending seems to be vital to the success of this teaching. All Eight are intertwined or "folded" together with no seperation. 

     The following is the list of the Eight Fold Path components that I learned in my studies. The paths are sometimes presented in a circular pattern with the idea that there is not a particular order to the paths but just an ongoing process. They are all connected to one another and there is not a particular finish that you can achieve unless you happen to become entirely enlightened. Since I have never seen or experienced that I will leave that possibility for those who have.

   In the original each was prefixed by the word Samma. Samma has been translated into the following, proper, whole, thorough, integral, complete, and perfect. The word is closely related to the English word meaning summit. In general the word is usually translated into the word "right" or correct.

Right View
Right Thought
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration

     The eight are broken down to three blocks in terms of relationship. For the current purpose I am going to write  about them as listed. There is lots of information in books and on the web concerning the Eight Fold Path and it's meanings. For our use I am going to interpret them using the word "Aware" as the first word. So instead of "Right View" it would be Aware View and the "Aware" applied to all of the eight I listed.

     We need to be careful in establishing a thread that runs through the teaching. What I am attempting to avoid is having "separate" truths. If we take the attitude that there are Four Noble Truths in four sections we have the tendency to miss or obfuscate the fact that there are four truths based on a singular message and concept. I am attempting to clarify that. A "right view" phrase would be open to someones subjective authority, content, context, temporal impact, cultural, and social impact. If you aren't sure take a look at Buddhism historically and you are going to see some pretty drastic changes to the initial teachings that were influenced by things like World War Two. Looking closely at belief systems during conflict and war they will always show you how subjective any founding concepts become in times with high emotional content.

     My interpretation simply says to be aware. Awareness means to be here and aware in the moment. Instead of the influence or intimation of an ethical/moral judgement we simply want to be aware of the eight patterns in the context and content of right now. Awareness is the process that certain types of meditation can lead towards if practiced
. 

      Intrinsic to working with the Eight Fold path is the act and processes of meditation. Why? Meditation is a method, among several, to stay focused in the here and now. As you can see meditation, if we focus the Eight Fold paths via awareness, becomes a tool for enabling the message of the Noble Truths to be lived in the here and now. When I process the truths I do so with awareness of where I am at the moment. When things are constantly changing they change very little in the moment in comparison. So awareness of the Eight Fold Path has a major effect. 

     The logic is this. Life is incredibly complex, intricate, and full of ambiguity. In order to live with complexity, intricacy, and ambiguity we need to attenuate the volume of life and reduce the impact. To reduce the impact we need to reduce the amount of input to our senses. To reduce the input we reduce the time frame of input using awareness developed by meditation, In doing this we are able to reduce input and complexity. It is though we are taking very small "slices" of life and experiencing each one in a momentary contact while never losing the flow of reality.

    If you were to examine your life within a single day it would contain millions of events, every sound, every scene, every thought and every emotion. All the things we experience even on what we might consider a "dull day" are innumerable and can be overwhelming and confusing if taken to much at once. The mind ceaslesly swings into the past, future, and the present in a continuum of thought processes. So what if we cut the twenty four hour period into a single hour? Lots less input and easier to handle and respond. By limiting the time spent we have placed a voluntary parameter on the mind. What if we divide it further to say five minutes? Now was we narrow our awareness there is a clarity and no matter what we can seem to process it for five minutes. Now say one minute or better still one second? Minimal sense load and incredibly easy to process on cognitive and emotional levels. That's what awareness and being in the here and now gives us. Being here and using meditation as a tool to develop the "Hereness" of life is at the core of an awareness practice.

     Recently I attended a workshop and part of the focus was on the Eight Fold Path. I couldn't help but notice that no matter how benign it was presented there was still the subjective view by the presenter that there was a "correct" way to to "do" the Eight Fold Path. In other words the "right view" is only the right view when an individual fulfills parameters set by authority. Hmm. Anyone see a problem with that? I do. In essence all this was given to us by an individual who claims to have come to this information by his own endeavor. This was immediately latched onto and turned into a pyramid with a power structure at the top and people taking authority over what is entirely a subjective experience. Pretty soon we are being told that other people "know" the "correct" way to do the different facets of the Eight Fold Path. I doubt it. I suspect that every one of us was designed with the need to figure out how all this applies to us. Not be told by someone who is using a subjective experience to judge or direct anyone else's experience.

     What I have seen among those who adopt the "Aware" model of the Eight Fold Path is that they self report feeling more confidence in living their experiences. The connection is that by being "aware" of our speech, or thoughts, or actions, or any of the eight paths our intuition in the moment doesn't fall away in confusion or result in less than our best effort. Direction becomes clear and undertaken to the fullest. Perhaps by being aware and self directed we can take what opens up to us on a natural response level without the artificial input from our moral and ethical sphere.

     "In any and every situation there is a response the fulfills your objective to be a spiritual being." 

I welcome all feedback and thank you for your time.

In the next post I will attempt to put the four truths into a comprehensive statement that will make more sense than the current model.

Sincerely,
Bryan S. Wagner
     

The Noble Truths and Suffering

Hi.

     This will be the third blog in the series on the Four Noble Truths. We have discussed the first two and the translation has come to this thought.

"TRANSIENCE IS ALL AND RESISTANCE TO TRANSIENCE THROUGH ATTACHMENT BECOMES THE SOURCE OF SUFFERING. "

     This brings us to the third of the Noble Truths and in Pali the word used is "Nirodha." Sometimes Nirodha Sacca. Sacca is translated to the words reality or truth. Again as previously pointed out the translations vary with some overlap of meaning. Nirodha translates into liberation, cessation, disbanding, stopping, estrangment, indifference, control, confine, corral, and restrain. Some defining words correlate and some are conflicting.

     So we ask how does the third truth translate so it fits into the first two translated meanings in a cohesive way?  In order to keep the thread going I prefer to translate Nirodha into the following: "IT MEANS THE MOVEMENT OF LIBERATION FROM ATTACHMENT." Nirodha is pointing to the means and the way to stop being attached which is the root of all suffering. Nirodha indicates a movement to a way to finally give us some relief from suffering. You will note that unlike some of the classical interpretation and writing I am not suggesting the anyone is able to terminate suffering. We can be in the process and aspiring to reduce suffering. My belief system is that we will experience suffering unless the world takes a major psychological turn and I don't see that happening for a while. Thousands of years of conditioning is not going to be erased due to a concept, it needs to be processed via time, some action, and concrete changes in thinking. So we ASPIRE to freedom and liberation and stay in the movement towards.

     I have some comments on that. Do you know anyone, or met anybody, who has reached Nirvana? Me either. We are not going find that person. Currently in "spiritual" publications we see people and organizations that are headed by people who allude to being enlightened but they will continue to allude to something that simply cannot be proven. It's unfortunate that once a person attains popularity and power no one is willing to challenge them. They protect their vague claims by never stating anything as fact but only alluding to their position and for the most parting "acting as though" for the public. Historically speaking we have the "stories" about people who were enlightened but honestly my belief system is that they are stories and not particularly true. Nice stories though. And I think my second point is so what? Even is someone managed to achieve some sort of miraculous freedom how does that really affect the rest of humanity? It's obvious that context, content, and time have changed our position and what may have been so no longer is. We have not seen any fantastic long term changes in humanity from the historical enlightened ones. Just watch the news at night if your doubting me. Dukkha is everything. The third point is that if anyone has reached a "point of no suffering" they are unable to translate it to the rest of us in plain language. I think it's fun and intriguing but the whole "yes I am enlightened but it doesn't translate into language so you will have to take my word for it" thing just doesn't mean much to me. 

     So the third truth points directly to the fact that there is a way to diminish suffering. What great news that is for anyone who follows this path. The next blog will start to cover the Eightfold path which happens to be a more intricate and detailed part of the initial message. Although the Eightfold path appears to be a really direct answer we need to look at the meaning and intent of the initial message. 

     As always I am hoping that this translation of the Four Noble Truths helps simplify and reduce the confusion concerning the message and it's application. I am always happy to hear from you, all thoughts and ideas are welcome. 

Sincerely,

Bryan S. Wagner







   

The Second Noble Truth SAMUDAYA

Hi.

     I wrote about my view on the first of the Four Noble Truths on the last blog and will continue to examine the process defined by the truths in today's blog.

     To refresh. Dukkha means the process of transience. Everything we can experience changes. The only way to experience anything is inside the process of changes itself. The first truth points directly to accepting and living a life than moves and thinks with transience itself. We suffer by attempting to exist with change by describing it from a static viewpoint.

     The Second idea is  embodied in the Pali words Samudaya Sacca. Samudaya has been translated to mean origin or source. Other meanings are whole, combination, or junction. Sacca has been translated as meaning truth or reality.

     So in the classical sense the two truths are Life is Suffering and the second is translated into the Truth of Suffering with an addendum such as attachment, greed, or whatever static process we happen to be examining. Makes sense and has been used for a long time to explain the "truths."

     I interpret it somewhat differently. Dukkha is the reality of transience. Samudaya Sacca refers to  the entire truth or source of truth and is pointing to the fact that suffering occurs when we live outside of transience. The truth lies in the gestalt. (Samudaya Sacca) In other words we need to embrace transience entirely or we continue to suffer. Or to put it another way we suffer through RESISTING CHANGE. Resistance most often takes the form of attachment by bringing into our control or by preserving our stasis by pushing away. By attachment we mean being attached to anything at all. So the first and  second truth say that TRANSIENCE IS ALL AND  RESISTANCE TO TRANSIENCE (VIA ATTACHMENT) BECOMES THE SOURCE OF SUFFERING.

     Ending suffering means to live in transience. Suffering by living in resistance only leads to more suffering. Once this is understood we can start comprehending why attachment to anything increases our suffering. Becoming attached to something means we desire to "have" this object someplace in space and time. Transience says that isn't possible. Every single things changes into something different than the object to which we first attached ourselves. So we suffer. We are not living in reality but in denial of reality.

     We identify with this using the image of trying to grasp water with our hands or wanting to hold onto a sunset or the full moon. Or wanting a relationship to peak and never change. Or going back to family dynamics that no longer exist. We want to return to a vacation spot we had our best vacation. Useless except for learning and all will result in suffering.

     If we live in transience it allows us to savor the moment and let go. Notice that nowhere am I suggesting that we some how avoid the moment. Experiencing the moment is life. Staying in a place of not experiencing is suffering.

     So much of spiritual and most religious paths spend inordinate amounts of time finding ways and methods of "removing" what have been labeled as "negative" processing. Entire systems are dedicated to things like "not getting mad" or "use this system and you will experience constant happiness" types of messages. Now some of these might work for a second. But because of the nature of change they will not be a "permanent" solution. However when anything arises, if you experience it knowing it will change, you will find yourself reacting differently to the experience.

     An example: You have anger and your reaction to the anger is extreme. Anger much like any emotional structure, if embraced, will peak and diminish quickly. Like getting cut off by another driver and five minutes later you are no longer paying attention to the incident and are no longer angry. Instead of resisting the anger and telling ourselves "I will not get angry" it's better to simply be angry in transience. Which means to have the anger, let it cycle quickly, knowing that it will, and move on without reacting outside the experience. Reacting only increases your suffering. Getting angry is not suffering, reacting to the attachment of being angry is suffering.

     Why am I pointing this our? Because focusing on the anger and trying to develop a lifestyle that says "I won't get angry" or "I am not angry" doesn't work. Never has never will. Being angry fully and embracing the anger in transience does work. The anger comes and goes. There is no need to "do" anything with it. I have never been able to change pure emotional structure as it happens.

     The same thing works for being happy. Embrace being happy when you are happy. Have insane happiness but live in transience. You will find your self cycling through the happiness without going through the suffering of trying to hang on to the happiness. You know you cannot so you don't even try. Any emotional state can be approached the same way. Any experience is cycled the same way.

     If we live in transience all experience becomes precious by the contact with the event itself.

     We can see how life changing embracing the process of the Noble Truths can be. I am going to continue to explore the Truths in the next blog.

I am grateful to our community and am looking forward to hearing from everyone. Input is always welcome.

Sincerely
Bryan S. Wagner

The Noble Truths Revisited.

                                                             

     Hi!
 
     I would like to start by talking about the idea that whatever was written about and and what the somewhat formal forms of evolved Buddhism are pointing to are, at best, interpretations that have first been translated from oral traditions that were then translated to writing  and then translated into several different languages. The truth is that the initial message was so powerful that it's "essence" has survived through thousands of years. Yet there remains an enormous amount of room for misinterpretation, confusion, and cognitive contamination. Much of what we have now has become dogma and presented with an inflated sense of surety of meaning. As the Buddha has been reported to have said we need to question everything. Always.

     We can take the translations and interpretations anyway we want too. Some declare that the writings represent what was said or pointed to most accurately. They indicate a belief that oral traditions can be transmitted successfully over multiple generations. Others indicate the difficulty in accuracy if we rely on dead languages, interpretations, arrogance, ego, human error, human inability to translate anything without adding a filter and the human tendency to "spin" information to place the interpreter in a position of importance. My thinking is grounded in the idea that regardless of the above arguments some of the "essence" of the original message has been retained. So the "core" message has remained intact although not particularly in a precise manner. Evidently the root message was powerful enough to withstand all the twists and turns as it was passed along. ( I do wonder how much information was lost before the oral tradition was initiated. The Buddha evidently said some things before they was an organized attempt to "memorize" his talks.)

     The Four Noble Truths. It's an interesting title. Unfortunately it's not very accurate in the sense that the Pali language is open to a lot of different interpretations and the title is just one of them. They could have been called "The truth for the nobles" except that wouldn't fly well with a lot of people because it implies the truth is for a select group of people. It's not. Although that could actually have been the title. Interpreting means to be aware of source, content, context, and the interpreter's agenda. All the known Buddhist information is loosely interpreted and a lot of guesswork was done before its presentation to the public. This becomes apparent if you investigate multiple sources of interpretation. 

     My belief is that the loosely named "truths" were not initially meant as separate ideas but a connected cohesive conceptual idea that over time has been broken down in to the separate "truths" that we see today. Looking at context and content I have come to the conclusion that the truths were initial presented as a concept statement and so will proceed to explain what I think is the truer meaning.

Some examples of the first truth as we have translated it reads as the following

Life is suffering.

We experience dissatisfaction.

Life is like a wheel out of kilter.

     These are just a few of the interpretations. It's pretty apparent that the difficulty lies in the way the statements are formulated. Almost all of the first truth statements imply a state of no change. EX: Life is suffering. No it's not. Life, if you accept that everything is change, simply cannot be one thing. It can be a billion things or an experience in transience thus "containing" an event but it cannot be "suffering." So we need to examine the first truth or part of the truth in terms of a flowing dynamic. 

     The word that is the focus of the first of the truths is Dukkha. A word that has been translated as meaning, suffering, anxiety, uneasiness, and dissatisfaction. Notice that all of these point too but do not translate the meaning of the word. Part of the difficulty in extracting the exact meaning of ancient words is that much of what we identify as nouns or subjects were in fact words that meant action in the sense that verbs relay a sense of action. The words are not static but  represent a flowing process. Think of the difference between a s simple photograph or a movie.

     So Dukkha relates the ACTION of change. Not suffering, anxiety, uneasiness, or dissatisfaction. To change. It is the first principle of an entire conceptual statement. This is not exactly an earth shaking or profound idea. Certainly this is not the first time in history that this idea was explored particularly in the Yogic traditions. Everything is change. It's not that "things" change. Things "are" change. There are no things to change, only changing things. If you look at a table it's not the "idea" table. It's not sitting there stuck in time. It's a flowing never ending process of transformation that we loosely call "table." In reality the best we could say is that it's a "flowing through time" type of table. Our view of the table is a slice of the transience not the table itself. 

     The same concept applies to people and all that's living. None of life is static. There is not a single essence of you. Only multiple essences that overall appear to be you when taken in the broadest view or again a brief slice of transience. You are not the you of a microsecond ago but are fleeting and in constant motion. 

     So in reality what Dukkha or the ACTION OF CHANGE represents is transience. The first concept in the "truths" is simply pointing to the concept of TRANSIENCE. Transience means that everything has a life. Everything "appears" briefly and proceeds to change. And the bigger concept, and the one that I think is the original message, is that of not only accepting transience but the ACCEPTANCE AND WILLINGNESS TO LIVE IN THE STATE OF TRANSIENCE. Rather than simply stating an observance the concept is pointing to a radical change in our relationship to existence itself.  

     One of the difficulties in the path of Zen, Buddhism, and Taoism is remaining aware and focused on the living in transience part of the teachings. We forget and in doing so become steeped in what we think is both permanent and personal. If we truly live in transience nothing has any permanent impact. There is a distinct difference in comprehension of a concept and integrating or living the concept. A pitfall remains in simply comprehending a concept, like transience, and adopting the belief system that we are LIVING the concept through the comprehension. We only live in transience by integrating it through a state of awareness not by simple comprehension. We can easily be misled by thinking we "know" things and become confused because our lives are not being "lived" according to comprehension. In understanding this we come to a greater appreciation of the practices of meditation and contemplation both of which are tools for integrating concepts. 

     We will continue to explore this further by exploring the second part of the Four Noble Truths in our discussion of Samudaya.

I welcome any and all comments and information or questions.

Sincerely,

Bryan S. Wagner

     

   

   





   

Zen Buddhism and Change

Hi!

     Today I wanted to discuss what is probably the most important concept in Zen and Buddhism. In fact it's probably the most important concept that humans have ever developed. The concept is not new to Zen Buddhism and in fact has been realized multiple times in human history. This concept is also the hardest one to fold into and remain aware of in a daily practice.

     CHANGE ( Of course everyone already "knows" this so why examine it right?)

     A six letter word that represents the status of the universe as we know it. Everything changes. It all morphs, evolves, moves, vibrates, twitches, and slides along. Change effects everything from human thought to the solar system to time itself. And as Zen Buddhism reflects change is the most important thing to realize about our place in the universe.

     WHY?

     Well it's a matter of having true Perspective. Can you feel the difference between being aware of how everything is temporary or having the feelings that certain special things are universal and unchanging? One is in line with the universe as we know it. The other is a "belief" system. And it's entirely OK to have a belief system as long as you are aware that it's not a truth.

     Internalizing the idea and process of change gives us a remarkable ride during our time spent in the universe. The idea that everything changes all the time is the basis for the Noble Truths that Buddhists use as a starting point in the Buddhist belief system. Whenever we hang onto anything in the universe it becomes a lost cause and we become dissatisfied. Sometimes we don't realize that we are trying to stop change by applying an emotional and psychological "halt" to time.  Life is change and when we deny change we encounter resistance. The energy of change becomes a force that we may be deluded into thinking we have some control over. When we lose energy trying to stop change we inevitably experience some dissatisfaction and we can generate helpless and hopeless feelings. Change just is. Change is life. Change is the energy that moves everything in time.

     During the next "event" that occurs in your life see if you can't stay with the truth of change. Experience what is happening moment by moment realizing that it's going to change. The labels good and bad start to take on less power and the label of "interesting" becomes predominant. Life is ultimately interesting. The labels we use both good and bad are rarely accurate but more of a statement of opinion on an event. Life is not truly good or bad just interesting. And so it should be.

     Something to be aware of when we accept change as a prime principle. We cannot talk in terms of stasis or absolute. If we, with all our hearts, declare that we want everyone to be happy, safe, at peace, and/or any other permanent state of being it's not going to happen. Of course like a lot of things it's a nice sentiment and the meaning has status and relays a kind message. More realistic is that we want others to have the experience as temporary as it may be. This is an extremely powerful way to view the world we live in.

     The idea that every event is momentary gives us good reason to experience that event with every focus that we can give it. Once it's lived it's cycle it's gone and the next event occurs. My "belief" system is that keeping this in awareness is a remarkable way to go through life. I experience the power and energy of the experience but there is no drain on my system. In fact I have more energy that I can direct towards my awareness practice and exploring the give and take of the underlying mystery of existence. I experience the billions of forms of feelings and thoughts, nothing is ever repeated and everything is always new and fresh.

     All comments and thoughts are welcome so please let me know what you're thinking!            

Bryan S.Wagner