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  hardie karges 8:16 am on September 7, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: anatta ( 22 ), anicca ( 10 ), Buddhism ( 429 ), CHRISTIANITY ( 160 ), dialectic ( 13 ), DNA ( 44 ), Hardie Karges ( 240 ), Hinduism ( 28 ), Mahayana ( 46 ), meditation ( 190 ), Middle Path ( 54 ), rebirth ( 37 ), skandhas ( 10 ), Theravada ( 51 ), Vajrayana ( 22 ), Vipassana ( 14 )   

  Buddhism: It’s a Process… 

  

  I am not the same person as yesterday, and I will be a different person tomorrow. I am not DNA code. I am skandhas, anatta, annicca, that is: I am a ‘heap’ of causes and conditions, nothing permanent, always changing. So don’t get too attached to yourself or to anyone else, because tomorrow offers no guarantees. Oh, and one more thing: there’s no soul, at least nothing like what the Christians or Hindus have in mind, eternal and/or cosmic, though Buddhism usually allows for at least a limited sort of rebirth.

  After all, we don’t want to get too dreary now, do we? Certainly not. But the principles listed here are foundational to Buddhism. And so, life and the world are at least somewhat illusory, at least in their most obvious manifestations as part of the visual and sensory feast that constitute our world of perceptions. But there is another principle that is even more important to some of us as Buddhists, and that’s the concept of the Middle path, which can be applied to almost anything, including itself, that hypothetical middle path which defines Buddhism by its very lack of definition.

  And such is the history of Buddhism, as it evolves almost dialectically, from thesis to antithesis to synthesis, only to start the process all over again. It is in that view that Buddhism emerged in the first place, as the middle path between the excesses of Hinduism and the extreme renunciation of Jainism. And it is that process which continues today, as Mahayana offers an alternative to the original Theravada, and to which Vajrayana and Zen start the process all over again. Now the original Theravada Buddhism would like to remake itself as Vipassana: meditation, that is, first and foremost. I like that idea.

   

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  hardie karges 7:41 am on August 31, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 429 ), experience ( 2 ), Hardie Karges ( 240 ), innocence, meditation ( 190 ), Middle Path ( 54 ), non-dualism ( 11 ), thought ( 15 )   

  Buddhism in the Balance: Right Thoughts, Right Action 

  

  The wisest person has the mind of a child: always open, always learning. Of course, there are also many types of wisdom that accrue with age, so the perfect balance is just that: a perfect balance. And that’s the hardest part, of course, walking that fine line between two opposite extremes, in order to find that sweet spot that ultimately transcends them both. But that’s what Buddhism is all about, first and foremost, in its highest mode of being, the Middle Path, central to its foundation.

  Meditation is the paradigm of that open child-like mind, to the point that even thoughts should be scared to show their silly faces there, begging for attention and generally making a nuisance of themselves. But I’m being generous on the subject of thoughts and thinking. Many Buddhists, but especially ‘non-dualists’, reject all thought as being of little use and no more than a distraction. But the Buddha promoted ‘right thought’, i.e. good thoughts, and I totally agree with that.

  It’s disturbing that many ‘spiritual’ people are so ready to ‘throw out the baby with the bathwater,’ so to speak, assuming that if our evil thoughts cause so many problems, then all thoughts must be evil. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. Thoughts have revolutionized the course of human history and propelled us into an era largely peaceful and progressive, at least compared to what came before. You don’t have to study much history before you realize that no matter how bad things are now, they’ve been much worse before. Walk that fine line between innocence and experience for the highest wisdom.   
   
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  hardie karges 4:23 am on August 23, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: dharma ( 35 ), dhyana ( 5 ), Forest Temple ( 4 ), Hardie Karges ( 240 ), language ( 145 ), meditation ( 190 ), prison ( 2 ), PSYCHOLOGY ( 12 ), solitary confinement, solitude ( 2 ), Theravada ( 51 ), Zen ( 31 )   

  Buddhism Loves a Sangha, but Loves Solitude, too… 

  

  Western psychology thinks solitary confinement is torture. Buddhism thinks it’s pretty nice—sometimes. Go figure. Because that’s exactly what meditation is, is it not? That and concentration, yes, exactly, at least in meditation’s original purest form, which is maintained to this day in Theravada Buddhism, so important there that it’s often called Vipassana by its association. And it’s true. I couldn’t believe it the first time I did a retreat in a Thai forest temple, laymen silent unflinching for hours, monks even longer.

  I haven’t witnessed that degree of meditative absorption in the Tibetan or Chinese temples where I have experience and knowledge, but it might certainly exist there. And Zen might be another level of attainment, since the name derives from dhyana, after all. All of which goes to make a distinction with the typical Western ‘guided’ meditation, which, whatever its benefits, I simply wouldn’t consider true meditation, maybe more like a ‘dharma talk’ if done well. But if it’s not a Buddhist meditation group, then it might not be a Buddhist talk. Hindus are still trying to reclaim Buddhism as their own.

  But the point is that, while solitude might be torture for some, it doesn’t have to be. And it’s more likely to be, I think, if you’re accustomed to living your life in crowds and constant confusion. For someone raised on a farm out in the countryside, what’s a little solitary confinement? Sounds like Sunday afternoon. Solitude can and should be something good, healthy, and productive. If they don’t teach meditation in prisons, then they certainly should. It just might save somebody’s life sometime.

   
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  hardie karges 4:34 am on August 18, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: ahimsa ( 7 ), Buddhism ( 429 ), CHRISTIANITY ( 160 ), conciliation ( 3 ), Hardie Karges ( 240 ), homo sapiens ( 7 ), meditation ( 190 ), Rumi, social media ( 13 ), Sufi   

  Buddhism in the Balance: Conciliation, not Confrontation… 

  

  Conciliation seems to be a prime corollary of Buddhism, something like Christian forgiveness, but without all the weeping and wailing. And I’m not trying to be cute, but seriously, let it go, ‘it’ being that reactive stance to any blow to ego, whether full frontal or slight glance, equal in their danger to provoke chain reactions and nonstop confrontation, which should be the last thing that anybody would really want, and the first thing to avoid. In other words, don’t take the bait.

  Now, I don’t know if we’re just an argumentative species, or it’s a western thing, but the upshot of the modern Social Media (SM?) phase of world history seems to be that we’re a bunch of combative SOB’s. And, while Buddhism and the other Dharma religions are well-known for advocating the non-violence of ahimsa, I’m not sure but that maybe some damage might already be done by that time. So, I think the great Sufi poet Rumi had a much higher and better standard (yes, Buddhists often copy this):

  Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates: At the first gate, ask yourself, ‘Is it true?’ At the second gate ask, ‘Is it necessary?’ At the third gate ask, ‘Is it kind?’

  In other words, be better than the other one, the instigator, the troublemaker. Don’t respond in kind. You don’t have to respond at all. In many instances, that’s the best you can do, and there’s really nothing better than that. But it’s not always easy. And what if they’re standing right there and won’t let you just walk away? And wouldn’t you like to teach the instigator something about the results of his bad speech? Humor is another possibility but be careful. The laughter often works. Regardless, reconcile ASAP. Don’t hold grudges, or they will hold you.

   
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  hardie karges 4:28 am on August 10, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: abundance ( 7 ), Buddhism ( 429 ), CHRISTIANITY ( 160 ), ermptiness, game theory, Hardie Karges ( 240 ), infinity ( 7 ), meditation ( 190 ), zero sum   

  Buddhism 499: Life is not a Zero-Sum Game 

  

  Don’t begrudge anyone their success. There is no shortage of blue ribbons in this world. This judgmental view is due to the theory and outlook of so-called ‘zero-sum’ games, that any gain for one side or one party is a loss for the other. And this is critical to the original ‘game theory’, which studies the relation of strategic interactions. But life is not a game, except in a metaphorical sense, and to the extent that it is, it is not ‘zero-sum’. Most games of sport are not.

  A baseball game can score an unlimited number of points, or runs, until the lights go out, or until the rains come, whichever comes first. Now, I wouldn’t say that the points are infinite, but that’s not the point, pun intended. The point is that there are no hard limits, just conceptual ones, so even if there is a temporary winner and a temporary loser, both sides are welcome to score, and any imbalance is capable of further resolution. To use political terms, the game isn’t always fair, but it isn’t ‘rigged’, either, not in any real sense.

  Such are the fantasies of conspiracy theorists and religious pre-determinists, that ‘it is all written’, supported only by the fact that such convictions can’t be disproven. To paraphrase some legal jargon I picked up somewhere, probably TV, ‘absence of evidence is not evidence of absence’. In other words, just because you can’t disprove something, doesn’t mean that it is true. But in no way does any of this imply that there is unlimited stuff, abundance in the Christian sense. Infinity is empty, and that’s the most beautiful part of it. But there is just enough stuff for everyone, almost as if by design…

   
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  hardie karges 3:24 am on August 4, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 429 ), guided meditation ( 3 ), Hardie Karges ( 240 ), meditation ( 190 ), natural selection ( 3 ), politics ( 32 ), renunciation ( 15 )   

  Buddhism 334: Right Views are not Political… 

  

  Politics are not a suitable focus for meditation, and in fact are a great disruption. Which should go without saying, it seems, but for the fact that much meditation is of the ‘guided’ sort. So, caution should be a watchword for practice. After all, silence is the foundation of all traditional meditation practices, so any narrative is going against that stream of consciousness, which at its best is a thoughtless stream.

  But politics is particularly onerous, it being often combative, such as it is, and with no remedy to that in sight. It seems that natural selection does not select for gentleness and conciliation, but for the ability to put freshly fertilized genes into the next generation, without which there may be no next generation. Every breeding couple of every species must produce slightly more than two offspring per couple, or we will all gradually go extinct, as the elevated rates for such a situation amply prove in the present climate.

  Still, some people claim that the Buddha had a political side, but I can’t find much proof of that. His Buddhism of renunciation never advocated total renunciation, though, and that’s the important thing. Partial renunciation is another name for daily meditation, and from there one’s daily life can quickly and vastly improve. The same thing can be said for political activism, as long as it’s peaceful, mindful, and respectful. There are conservative and more liberal sides to all politics, and that’s fine. Just leave the hatred and anger outside. And that will help keep your daily meditation healthy.

   
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  hardie karges 4:35 am on July 27, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 429 ), Hardie Karges ( 240 ), knowledge, language ( 145 ), meditation ( 190 ), perfection, present moment ( 5 )   

  Buddhism 491: Everything Teaches a Lesson  

  

  The difference between a blessing and a curse is often only a matter of centimeters or seconds. Attaching a name explains little. Because we only know the final flowers of fruition upon completion, that is perfection, as related in the perfect tense of many languages, better described than the past tense of our own, which is misleading, to think that time can conveniently be divided into three dimensions like space, i.e. past, present, and future, analogous to length, width and breadth, convenient if not correct. 

  And if that plays into a convenient and comfortable ‘present moment’ narrative of the moment (no pun), then so be it. Because if all reality is mostly unknowable, then the future is the best example. But here’s the kicker: so is the present. The only thing that we can truly know is the past, because it is perfected, i.e. completed, complete with neural twin, through which it can be examined. You can’t do that in the present. The present may be singular in its experience, but that doesn’t imply knowledge. That implies attention, absorption, perception, and concentration. 

  Knowledge only comes from perfection, i.e. completion, a much nicer word than mere past, which implies old, mold, withered and weathered. Perfection is much friendlier. So, is that fruit a blessing or a curse? In Buddhism, everything is an opportunity to learn something, so, in effect, nothing is truly a curse. And if it feels that way, there are two possibilities: your feeling is incomplete, or the act itself is incomplete. Either way, perfection is only a step away. Be patient and be diligent. 

   
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  hardie karges 4:24 am on July 19, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Eightfold Path ( 17 ), Hardie Karges ( 240 ), meditation ( 190 ), Right Action ( 2 ), Right Concentration, Right Effort ( 2 ), Right Intention, Right Livelihood ( 2 ), Right Mindfulness ( 2 ), Right Speech ( 5 ), Right View ( 2 )   

  Buddhism 202: To Suffer is to be Human 

  

  The damages you suffer are but the beauty marks on your personality. And that’s good, because we’re not talking about some immutable permanent transcendent self that sees itself as the center of the world in some horrific act of ego incarnate. That’s the evil refrain from gurus-for-hire who know that the killer sales pitch is usually that one that puts ‘you, you, you’ in the central spotlight, even ‘You are God,’ forever enshrined in memory as ‘me, me, me’ for ease of memory and convenient interpretation. And all that rap is but salt in the wound of your condition. But that’s not the point.

  The point is that your suffering is not the end of the world. In fact, it is almost the only certainty in a world confined to matter and mechanics and gravity to boot, such that suffering is nothing to be ashamed of and even a badge of honor in a world where street cred has high value. The need for cessation of suffering is still of utmost importance, though, so don’t get too attached to your afflictions, if you really want to overcome them. Any other approach would certainly be unhealthy, and Buddhism never encourages that.

  Buddhism does encourage healthy habits always, and those are the basis of the Eightfold Path that informs the Buddhist approach to the world: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. What could be simpler, right? And that’s the special sauce to mend your suffering, or even plaster those nasty cracks in your exterior façade, to put the lie to any permanent damage, and help to make yourself whole again, despite all the faults of the flesh. We are not perfect, no, and no one is, but at least we are honest, and imperfection can be beautiful.

   
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  hardie karges 4:18 am on July 13, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 429 ), Hardie Karges ( 240 ), John Donne, Mahayana ( 46 ), meditation ( 190 ), Pali ( 20 ), Sanskrit ( 22 ), Theravada ( 51 )   

  Buddhist Theravada, then Mahayana: Save Yourself, then Save the World  

  

  The immediate goal is personal peace and contentment. The long-term goal is universal friendship. Or to put it another way: first you save yourself, then you save the world, in some sort of secure Theravada foundation ultimately giving rise to new Mahayana fruits and icing on the cake. Because, ultimately, we all have to live together, in increasingly diverse circumstances, and the way to secure our mutual survival is to work together toward fulfillment. If we limit the cessation of suffering to the boundaries of so-called ‘self’, then we still have a long way to go as a society. 

  ‘No man is an island,’ said the English writer John Donne in 1624, and truer words have ne’er been spoke, especially since the world population has sex- or sep-tupled since that early date, and the count shows few signs of slowing. So, for someone to be content in his own little bubble of bliss is to ignore the larger demands of society and is ultimately passive, if not outright selfish, regardless of whether the Buddha said to be an island unto yourself, or a lamp. That confusion apparently comes from the similarities of the Pali/Sanskrit words dvipa and dipa, respectively, and the inability to prove anything that wasn’t originally written down.  

  But the confusion is almost serendipitous, in that both will work with a Theravadin self-centered island opening up to a broader society-centered light which might shine outward onto others once the mortal temporary self has flipped the switch to the coveted ‘on’ position. Thus, John Donne has nothing on the Buddha for the sublime play of his words nor the intent of his meaning. When you’ve gotten your own act together, then help the world. ASAP. Please. 

   
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  hardie karges 4:11 am on July 6, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: ahimsa ( 7 ), Buddha ( 49 ), Buddhism ( 429 ), dana ( 7 ), Hardie Karges ( 240 ), karma ( 50 ), Mahayana ( 46 ), meditation ( 190 ), religion ( 158 ), retribution, REVENGE ( 3 ), spirituality ( 27 ), Theravada ( 51 )   

  Buddhism 499: Revenge is not Sweet…   

  

  Retribution is not necessary. Equanimity is a path for all situations and all times. This is central to Buddhism, if not foundational. Because the foundations are mostly personal, but it’s implicit that once you’ve attained some level of release from your own suffering that you will contribute to do the same for the world. And while this may be more pronounced in the Mahayana tradition of Bodhisattvas, it also applies to all the rest, in substance, if not style. 

  That’s explicit in the tradition of dana, which Theravada Buddhism relies on for its everyday existence, since monks are forbidden to work, at least not in any official capacity. That’s for ‘householders.’ Monks are homeless, by design, making a mockery of the disdain in which we in the west typically hold them, our India relations elevating the concept to a high plain of spirituality as rishis or even maharishis in the Hindu tradition, or arahant in the Buddhist Theravadin tradition. 

  Even more important is ahimsa, non-violence, which holds true for all the India-based spiritual traditions. And while I’m sure their armies have had their own mistakes and misgivings over the years, at least give them the credit for not glorifying it or reveling in it. Because that’s what revenge and retribution imply, whether stated or not. Retribution is a function of karma, which you’ve brought on yourself, so no violence against others is either implied or intended. Stay cool. Don’t react, unless someone’s life is at stake. And, even then, don’t be proud of it. Be forgiving… 

  hardie karges and jmoran66 are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    jmoran66 7:14 pm on July 6, 2024 Permalink | Reply

    That’s the roots of jai yen here in Thailand, I would think.

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      hardie karges 12:01 am on July 7, 2024 Permalink | Reply

      Cool heart, yes…