Transpersonal Compassion: Serving a Larger Vision (Part Two)

Image via Wikipedia

L.D. Turner

In order for compassion to become more than just a nice idea or a sentimental feeling, it must flow out of the internalized wisdom of the ages, particularly as related to the reality of “interconnectivity.” The idea of interconnectivity, now confirmed by the field of quantum physics, has been around for many centuries and is at the core of interspiritual mysticism, that one aspect of world religion that seems to transcend culture, time, and especially theology. It is a mystical connectedness that promotes compassion and engaged action to make the world a better place for all who dwell here. In essence, it is a deep wisdom that gives flesh to grace. The great spiritual writer Kahil Gibran spoke of this interconnected reality when he said:

Your neighbor is your other self dwelling behind a wall. In understanding, all walls shall fall down. Who knows but that your neighbor is your better self wearing another body? See that you love him as you would yourself. He too is a manifestation of the Most High.


In India, for example, we have the story of Indra’s Net, which is strung throughout the universe with a precious jewel at the places where the cords of the net intersect. These jewels, in turn, reflect all of the other jewels. Similar to the modern discovery of the hologram, the image of Indra’s Net is filled with symbolic wisdom depicting the interconnectivity of all that is. We will briefly return to a consideration of Indra’s Net later; for now, let’s look at a more modern source. Gary Zukav, in his groundbreaking book entitled, The Dancing Wu Li Masters tell us:

…the philosophical implications of quantum mechanics is that all things in our universe (including us) that appears to exist independently are actually parts of one all-encompassing organic pattern, and that no parts of that pattern are ever really separate from it or from each other.

In the Christian tradition, the writings of the great mystic teachers echo these same truths, often in symbolic and metaphorical ways. Julian of Norwich especially comes to mind as well as Hildegard of Bingen and Madame Guyon. The writings of Saint Theresa of Avila and the life and work of St. Francis also point to the interconnectivity of all life and the necessity of having a heart of radical compassion.

The great Romantic poets like William Wordsworth and Percy B. Shelley have voices that ring loudly with the sense of the interrelated aspects of the natural world and their American counterparts, the Transcendentalists, in the writings of Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman, also echo this theme of divine connectivity. And then there is the work of that master of the arcane, William Blake who spoke of the mystic’s ability:

To see a World in a grain of sand,
And Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.


The world that we interact with each day only appears to be solid. In point of fact, it is an intricate dance of sub-atomic waves and particles that obey none of the traditional or expected moves of predictable choreography. At its core level, our apparently solid, material world is less like classical music and more like jazz. Just when we think we have a handle on how things are, these very things change, morphing into something totally unexpected and often totally mysterious. Someone very wise once said the life is not a riddle to be solved but a mystery to be lived. How true, and the sooner a person grasps this fundamental truth, the less frustration will appear in his or her life.

It is not my intention to travel too far down this road of quantum physics at this juncture. Suffice to say that contemporary science is increasingly coming to grasp the same fundamental truths that mystics and shamans have voiced for many centuries. Simply put: Everything is interrelated and interdependent and when one part is affected by something, at a very core level, every other part is also impacted. Just as the quantum scientists speak of the interconnected nature of the universe, mystics in general and Buddhist sages in particular have stressed this fundamental aspect of life for over 2,500 years.

Radical Compassion, Interconnectivity, and Buddhist Tradition

All the happiness there is in this world comes from thinking about others and all the suffering comes from preoccupation with yourself.

Shantideva


In Buddhism, the importance of living with a compassionate heart and a mind of Bodhichitta comes from the understanding the universe and everything in it is a unified whole. Although this critical insight is now recognized by science, it was clearly understood by the seers of ages past. In Buddhist scripture this principle is spelled out in the story of ‘Indra’s Net,” which is found in the Avatamsaka Sutra. Diane Eshin Rizetto, Abbess of the Bay Zen Center in Oakland, relates that the image of Indra’s Net:

…conceives the universe as an enormous net extending infinitely in all directions, protecting and nurturing all of life, nothing excluded. At the juncture of each knot of the net there is a shiny, multifaceted reflective jewel. Because of its many sides, each jewel reflects every other jewel in the net in a vast network of mutual support of each other’s existence. It’s difficult to imagine the countless number of jewels in a net this size let alone the endless number of reflections on each jewel. No jewel exists without the other jewels. No jewel stands alone. All are interdependent on the presence of others. If one appears, all appear, if one does not appear, none appear. If you were to place one black dot on any one of the jewels, it would appear in all the jewels.


As Abbess Rizetto points out, each jewel in this magnificent net reflects the image of every other jewel and this image serves as a great metaphor for the interconnected, interdependent nature of the universe in which we live. In the West we treasure the concepts of independence and individuality, but in the final analysis, these romantic images are just that, images. In reality, as the great poet John Donne so aptly pointed out, “no man is an island.” Every aspect of the universe is dependent upon every other aspect and now even quantum science is verifying the veracity of this truth. In relation to the implications of Indra’s Net, Rizetto continues:

The Net of Indra is a compelling image illustrating unceasing, unobstructed interpenetration and mutual interdependence of all existence. Every action, every word, every thought – our memories, desires, fears, urges, frustrations, happiness, peace, well-being – ripples its effect into the universe. No one, no thing is excluded in its mutual resonance and all-inclusive relationship…..To follow the teaching of Dharma is to take action that is in harmony with the interrelatedness of all things. Every action has an effect and every effect leads to a cause in an infinite web of life.


Yet it is important to realize that this fundamental interconnectedness of all that exists does not completely negate our individuality. As is so often the case, the ultimate reality is one of paradox and in the spirit of Zen, this paradoxical nature of reality is brought to the forefront. We are all individuals with some degree of independence, but this individuality and independence exists within the larger field of interdependence. American Zen Master Robert Aiken explains:

You and I come forth as possibilities of essential nature, alone and independent as stars yet reflecting and being reflected by all things. My life and yours are the unfolding realization of total aloneness and total intimacy.

to be continued....

(c) L.D. Turner 2010/All Rights Reserved

Related articles by Zemanta

• Buddhist Symbols: The Dharma Wheel (brighthub.com)
• DK Matai: What is The Quantum God Effect? 'I am You, You are Me' (huffingtonpost.com)

Essentials for the Spiritual Life: Mindfulness (Part Two)

L.D. Turner

In my own experience, those forms of meditation that lend themselves to the quieting of the mind have proved the most beneficial when it comes to opening up to the kind of special encounters described above. My preference has been the utilization of techniques involving focusing my attention on my breathing as an anchor to which my often skittering mind is tethered and brought under at least a modicum of control. For others, mediations involving visualization, chanting, or mantra may be more conducive to the experience we are discussing. Whatever the technique, the important component is regularity of practice. The more we meditate, the more mindful we will become. This is a simple equation, but it has been consistently verified.

I am of the firm conviction that the more mindful people become, the more they will be able to master themselves and by doing so, behave in ways that are less problematic and more harmonious. Meditation is the pathway to mindfulness and mindfulness is indeed, a great blessing to one and all.

At times the search for happiness can take on the character of a greased pig at a county fair. Running, dodging, weaving, the porker seems to elude your grasp with the uncanny skills of an old Kung Fu master. And then, just when you think you have the hog in your clutches, it looks at you with a wry grin and slithers away, leaving you with an arm full of air and Oleo.

Dogen once compared enlightenment to “moonlight in a dew drop, dripping from a duck’s beak.” Or, was it a crane’s beak? I suspect it is the same either way. In a very similar vein, a very wise and eccentric old Daoist teacher I met when I lived in China said that catching a glimpse of pristine reality, shimmering in that sublime and sacred space between our thoughts, was like capturing a tiger in the ass of a gnat.

Aside from the obvious lessons here, Dogen’s teaching and that of the old Daoist both point to the fact that both happiness and the wisdom of enlightenment are found by being present to what I like to call “the divine moment.” It is precisely here, in the “sacred now” that we discover that for which many of us seek so diligently. It is right here, right now, right before us that we discover that which was never really hidden.


I don’t know about you, but I often struggle with the mindfulness necessary to discover the blessed pearls of the present moment. My mind, as the enlightened tell us, is like a monkey, jumping here, flitting there, and forever raising a ruckus of sound and fury. If this is true, and it certainly is, then my mind is often like a monkey on steroids. It just refuses to accept the tether I seek to employ. My mind, indeed, has a mind of its own.

Still, I refuse to give up on such an important issue. I make every effort to improve in this area of my life. To my way of thinking, the more mindful of the moment I am, the better my chance of discovering the divine in the mundane reality of daily living; blessings that I didn’t even know existed; and perhaps most important, messages God may have for me. I firmly believe that we often miss divine guidance because we don’t have ears to hear and the reason we don’t have ears to hear is that we are too busy and too noisy.

I have found that mindfulness and mediation are inseparable practices. The process of meditation is, in reality, an exercise in establishing mindfulness in a specific place for a specific amount of time. The object of our meditation may vary – it could be the breath, a mantra, a prayer, a candle flame, or whatever. You see, to meditate is to be mindful and I have found that the more often and the more consistent my meditation practice is, the more I am able to be mindful when I am not meditating.

Some people complicate mediation way too much. They either turn it into some arcane practice from Inner Bhutan, complete with Tibetan chants and visualizations of everything from Indra’s Net to Shiva’s phallus. It doesn’t have to be this way, really. Countless sages from every spiritual tradition will tell you that counting the breath is enough.

Meditation also involves getting off your cushion, mat, zafu, or what have you and taking that pristine awareness into the world of your daily living. I love the following words by Jon Kabat-Zinn about the essence of meditation and mindfulness:

We need to develop and refine our minds and its capacities for seeing and knowing, for recognizing and transcending whatever motives and concepts and habits of unawareness may have generated or compounded the difficulties we find ourselves embroiled within, a mind that knows and sees in new ways is motivated differently. This is the same as saying we need to return to our original, untouched, unconditioned mind.


How can we do this? Precisely by taking a moment to get out of our own way, to get outside of the stream of thought and sit by the bank and rest for a while in things as they are underneath our thinking, or as Soen Sa Nim liked to say, “before thinking.” That means being with what is for a moment, and trusting what is deepest and best in yourself, even if it doesn’t make any sense to the thinking mind.


From Kabat-Zinn’s words we can see that there is nothing mysterious, esoteric, or bizarre about this process of mindfulness. More than anything else, it is a simple and straightforward effort toward self-mastery, which is an essential goal on the path of spiritual evolution. Although many people tout the virtues of the undisciplined life and, as some say, “going with the flow,” this is in contradiction of the real Zen life. If you happen to be fully enlightened and your karmic debts have been paid in full, then you might consider going with the flow. If you happen, however, to be like most of us, you will readily admit to seeing through a glass darkly and that your karmic spreadsheet still has plenty of red ink. For most of us, going with the flow will garner an experience that resembles more than anything else, the life of a log.


From Kabat-Zinn’s description, it is obvious that coming to live in the present moment, to be mindfully attentive to what is happening in front of our eyes, is a spiritual experience of high significance. On rare occasions, we may be granted by grace a glimpse of this unadorned reality of “just what is” beyond our ideas about what is. These moments are personal epiphanies, always remembered and transformational in nature.

In essence, to meditate and become mindful in our comings, goings, risings, and fallings – in our successes and our failures and in our joys and our suffering – is indeed the experiential definition of a mainstay of the spiritual life: engagement.

To be engaged is to be truly alive, vital, involved, and useful. It is the foundation of all effective spiritual service. When we are mindful we can be engaged, and when we are engaged, really right there in our wholeness in the totality of the divine moment, we become part of the solution rather than the problem.

© L.D. Turner 2010/All Rights Reserved

Transpersonal Compassion: Serving a Larger Vision (Part One)

L.D. Turner

After my tireless and at times seemingly disjointed efforts at spiritual study and practice over the past 40 years or so, I have come to several salient and universally applicable realizations:

• The flows beneath the seemingly different surfaces, a common experience among all religious traditions. This is not to say that all religions are the same – because they are not. What it does say is that deep down in that space where it really counts – deep down in that part of our being that intrinsically knows the truth – lies the same experience and it is an experience of mystical unity. The only other common thread that I see running through almost all religions is less savory – all religions eventually seem to reach a point where they become the major
impediment in the path of their followers finding truth and enlightenment.

Even in the newer, more non-religious spiritual groups, there is a marked tendency toward self-absorption and this, in turn, tends to foster the problem of ego domination rather than solve it. Although the path of spiritual growth and personal development requires a significant amount of focus on oneself, this self-reflection must always be balanced with service to a cause larger in scope than one’s own petty concerns, however significant they may seem. As a result of these realities, many New Age groups devote little time and or energy to community service. Much lip service is offered but little legwork is proffered. For a degree of validation of this point, next time you are browsing the spirituality section of your favorite bookstore, see how many books you find on “service” or “community enhancement.” Also, look at the table of contents in most spiritual books. Normally, there may be at most a section on something like “Creating a Better World” tucked in at the back of the book. Even some of our most cherished spiritual writers are guilty of this. I say this not in a spirit of condemnation, but just of non-judgmental observation.

I must admit that I find this trend somewhat disturbing. I guess part of my reaction stems from the fact that I was so radically guilty of the same crime. It took more than a few personal crises and at least one divine pummeling to bring me to my senses, at least marginally. Fortunately, as time passed I began to see things from a broader and more global perspective, coming eventually to the cosmic realization that everyone and everything in the universe, in fact, did not orbit my being.

This personal epiphany eventually led me to see that in an overall grander scheme of things, I was, in reality, fairly small potatoes. Over time, thanks to coming in contact with several significant spiritual teachers in ways that can only described as divine synchronicity, I came to view a few of the more important issues we all face in life in a decidedly different light.

In retrospect, one of the most enlightening insights that I came to was that no matter how we may choose to frame the reality, the ultimate goal of working with any system of spiritual growth is to awaken in ourselves the desire to make a positive contribution to the world beyond ourselves. Ideally, each of us should strive to find ways in which we can bring light, joy, and relief to others. It is no overstatement to say that the entire framework of my spiritual odyssey has since been to place myself in a state of being where I can not only be good – but good for something.

Gautama Buddha was an example of grace and perfect love incarnate. After finding his awakening under the Bodhi tree, the Buddha went about spreading the truth that he had discovered, a truth that when astutely applied to life, could liberate beings from endless rounds of suffering. Just as with Jesus who would come later, Buddha taught through sermons, informal talks, parables, and above all, his actions.

Just as Christ would later set an example for his disciples to follow, the Buddha also would serve as the divine prototype for the essence of “metta,” or “loving-kindness.” In Metta, there is an internal manifestation and an external manifestation. Internally, increasing feelings of loving kindness give rise to a vital sense of compassion that is also based on the realization of the oneness of all things. These internal states of loving kindness and compassion result in the external manifestation, which is proactive service to the world.

This eventually gave rise to the Mahayana Buddhist ideal of the Bodhisattva. On a theoretical level, one can accurately say that the ultimate goal of the Bodhisattva is enlightenment and to some extent this is true. However, on a highly practical level, the Bodhisattva’s highest goal is selfless service. Personal enlightenment takes a back seat to serving others, spiritually and materially. In Chinese Buddhism we see this demonstrated in the high devotional priority given Guan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion or, literally translated, “she who hears the cries of the world.”

Radical compassion is compassion with legs; radical compassion is a verb. Just as the Bible tells us in the Letter of James that faith without works is dead, also, compassion without concomitant action is a lifeless phenomenon. Many sincere aspirants have the mistaken notion that the ultimate goal of the spiritual path is enlightenment. Although a sincere desire for motivation is one of our most treasured possessions, it is actually penultimate. The real aim of the spiritual journey is simply this – Sacred Service. All that we do is dedicated to the greatest good of all beings in all the worlds. Our gain is their gain, our loss is their loss, our advancement is their advancement, and it is to this sacred reality that those in the Buddhist world offer their benedictions at the end of their times of meditation and prayer.

to be continued....

(c) L.D. Turner 2010/All Rights Reserved

A Buddhist Prayer for Mealtime

This food is a gift of the whole universe,
Each morsel is a sacrifice of life,
May I be worthy to receive it.

May the energy in this food give me strength,
To transform my unwholesome qualities into wholesome ones.

I am grateful for this food,
I accept this sacrifice.
May I realize the Path of Awakening
For the sake of all beings.

Essentials for the Spiritual Life: Mindfulness (Part One)

L.D. Turner

Most of us slumber through our days, running on a soporific autopilot that gives us the impression of busyness but masks a general inefficiency. We are as far from functioning at our optimal capacity as Tacoma is from Timbuktu, yet we look at all of this and in our scattered, inattentive state we judge it to be “normal.”

If for only a moment we bring to a halt our incessant mental chatter; if for only a moment we rein in our flitting, darting attention; if for only a moment we were actually in the moment we might hear the enlightened voice of the Wise One calling to us down the hollow corridors of 2,500 years, advising us simply to slow down and:

Wake up!


Mindfulness is not a strong suit in western culture. A fast-paced, hectic lifestyle joined at the hip to myriad responsibilities creates an environment where the pursuit of mindfulness is at best a pipe dream for most people. Our minds are scattered between work, family, finances, and a plethora of other pressures contending for our attention. It is little wonder that most of us feel stressed, overwhelmed, and on the cusp of burnout most of the time.

The irony here is that mindfulness may very well constitute the solution to this ulcer-inducing way of life that most of us call “normal.” The fact is, once we really learn to be mindful and fully attentive to what we are doing, we become more efficient and able to accomplish more while expending less energy. Further, my personal experience has taught me that when I am truly conscious of my actions, my feelings, and my thoughts – I am less likely to feel overwhelmed and stressed. I find that I can remain at least marginally centered in spite of conflicting pressures and voices jockeying for my attention.

Mindfulness is at its core a spiritual issue. Although all faith systems stress mindfulness to some extent, nowhere is it a more central theme than in Buddhism. Mindful living is one of the central components of the Noble Eightfold Path described by Gautama Buddha as the path out of human discontent. I have found that when I make a consecrated commitment to work on mastering my monkey mind through consistent meditation practice and make efforts to become more mindful, life becomes generally better. Nothing really changes externally – the same pressures, responsibilities, deadlines, and stress – they are all still there. But something gradually begins to change internally as a personal anchor of centeredness begins to take shape. Although I am not perfect at it and certainly I am a long way from the calm demeanor of a Mahatma Gandhi, I am less likely to appear as a trance channel for Yosemite Sam.

Personally, I find it hard to wrap words around the full array of positive qualities that emerge from the practice of meditation and becoming more mindful. Perhaps that is one of the reason I appreciate the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, a pioneer in the use of mindfulness and meditation practice in health applications. Kabat-Zinn, in his book Coming to Our Senses, gives one of the best descriptions I have encountered:

More than anything else, I have come to see meditation as an act of love, an inward gesture of benevolence and kindness toward ourselves and toward others, a gesture of the heart that recognizes our perfection even in our obvious imperfection, with all our shortcomings, our wounds, our attachments, our vexations, and our persistent habits of unawareness. It is a very brave gesture: to take one’s seat for a time and drop in on the present moment without adornment. In stopping, looking, and listening, in giving ourselves over to all our senses, including mind, in any moment, we are in that moment embodying what we hold most sacred in life. In making the gesture, which might include assuming a specific posture for formal meditation, but could also involve simply becoming more mindful or more forgiving of ourselves, immediately re-minds us and re-bodies us. In a sense, you could say it refreshes us, makes this moment fresh, timeless, free up, wide open. In such moments, we transcend who we think we are. We go beyond our stories and all our incessant thinking, however deep and important it sometimes is, and reside in seeing what is here to be seen and the direct, non-conceptual knowing of what is here to be known, which we don’t have to seek because it is already and always here…..In words, it may sound like an idealization. Experienced, it is merely what it is, life expressing itself, sentience quivering within infinity, with things just as they are.

From Kabat-Zinn’s description, it is obvious that coming to live in the present moment, to be mindfully attentive to what is happening in front of our eyes, is a spiritual experience of high significance. On rare occasions, we may be granted by grace a glimpse of this unadorned reality of “just what is” beyond our ideas about what is. These moments are personal epiphanies, always remembered and transformational in nature.

As special as these moments are, they rarely come frequently unless a persons prepares the soil for their coming. That is where meditation comes in. Teachers from all faith traditions stress the importance of spending time in meditation and/or contemplation. For some reason not completely apparent, the more time we spend in proximity of the “Sacred Silence,” the more likely we are to experience these divine moments of pristine clarity. Meditation, whatever form it may take, appears to prepare the soil of our being for the coming of these special times when we actually see what is before us. Meditation and mindfulness are the twin practices that increase our capacity to be receptive to these divine gifts of the Spirit.

to be continued.....

(c) L.D. Turner 2010/All Rights Reserved

Words of Encouragement and Wisdom

With all of its age-old power and wisdom, all its experience and deep compassion, Zen wants you to find yourself. Zen actively wants you to achieve happiness and be content with your life. Enlightenment is the goal, it is the future, but just deciding to take the right steps, just facing the right direction, can have a powerful impact on today, on how you live your life every moment from now on. There can be no doubt that Zen can be applied to any life – Zen can be entered by anyone, anywhere – and I’m convinced that the application will always be beneficial, since Zen begins and ends at the most human level, with how people think of themselves and others. The first decision is to simply let Zen help you, let it do what it is designed to do. And that isn’t hard. The only requirement is you yourself: You are all that you will ever need to begin.

Chuck Norris

(from The Secret Power Within)

Welcome

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Wellsprings of Awakening, which is a new blog dedicated to sharing personal reflections on applying Zen principles to daily living. This first brief post will only feature the following words of Buddha, taken from the Kalama Sutra. Perhaps more than anything else that could be said, this wisdom reflects the foundation of all that will follow:

Kalama Sutra

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.

Do not believe in traditions simply because they have been handed down for generations.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.

Do not believe in anything merely on authority of your teachers and elders.

But when, after observation and analysis, you find anything that agrees with reason, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.