streaming consciousness…

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  hardie karges 3:49 am on March 31, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 455 ), craving ( 15 ), Hardie Karges ( 267 ), language, life ( 33 ), meditation ( 216 ), memories ( 2 ), memory ( 3 ), philosophy ( 113 ), POETRY ( 12 ), religion ( 167 ), thoughts, WRITING ( 13 )   

  Buddhism 499: Thought as Language and Memory…  

  

  The things we’re most attached to are our memories. If you can let go of them, then you can let go of anything. But the attachment here is insidious, because it is not strictly voluntary, but more customary, even essential. Because, like computers, we are in many ways defined by speed and memory, the two measurements which simultaneously both limit us and liberate us. What is more basic to our ability to think than language? Memory, of course, even if it’s always the past. Language is optional in the proto-consciousness of our lingo-less ancestors. Memory is not. 

  That’s the strict definition of thought, or awareness, but the sentimental attachments are more problematic. That’s when we become attached to our memories for purely sentimental reasons, or even worse: craving. Craving has long been identified as the chief cause of suffering in the Buddhist worldview, and that isn’t likely to change any time soon. The memories themselves aren’t usually the source of craving, of course, but the objects they represent are, insomuch as all memories are memories OF something. 

  So, here we are, featherless bipeds with a difference: we think like crazy, literally, mostly through the medium of language. In fact, in some people’s eyes, thought is indeed identified with language, as if no thought existed prior to language. I’m not sure how to prove it one way or the other, but I take it as an act of faith that that is not the case. Surely the animal kingdom conducts activities that can only be regarded as thought-driven, given the logic and forethought inferable.  

  Certainly, they have memories, and just as certainly, they have no language. But can we say that they are happier because of their lingo-less existence? Maybe. As always, the sweet spot lies somewhere in the middle. Dogs won’t cure cancer, but they may have less of it to begin with. Still, they’ll likely never live to the ripe old ages that we now consider normal. So, the best bet is to stop the thought stream periodically with meditation, and use memory as a substitute sometimes, but not as a practice of sentimental craving. Bingo. Sounds like an enlightened practice to me.  

   

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  hardie karges 8:42 am on March 3, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: awareness ( 5 ), consciousness ( 29 ), emptiness ( 31 ), Hardie Karges ( 267 ), language, meditation ( 216 ), religion ( 167 ), shunyata ( 24 ), silence ( 14 ), zero ( 13 )   

  Buddhism 301: Emptiness Is Also Silent, and Infinite…  

  

  Silence is normal. All noise should be treated as an alien force, approached with caution and handled with great care. But, we live in a world of mechanical waves, so we assume that the world should be full of it, percussion and repercussions. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that our worlds should be so full, since our worlds are plural, and everyone must make that choice individually. And this is another case of the glass half-full or half-empty, since it’s likely neither. But which is better?  

  Maybe there was a time in the history of the world when to merely ‘break the silence’ was somehow enlightening, revolutionary, and revealing, worth something in and of itself, but those days are likely long gone as the world rapidly fills up with stuff if not substance, and the resulting benefit is as illusory as it is elusive. What to do, then? Embrace the silence, for all it’s worth, as that should be plenty, for it is itself the raw material of meditation. 

  And, if simple awareness is the stuff of consciousness, then meditation may not be consciousness ‘on steroids,’ God forbid, but hopefully consciousness refined, purified, and made more intense in the process and more sacred in turn. For, what is more sacred than pure consciousness? This is a question that science cannot answer, and likely never will, but if there is something sacred in this life and in this world, then that must be it.  

  Buddhist ‘Emptiness,’ shunyata, based on the numerical concept of zero, is hard to define, and even harder to embody, but if that space is empty, then it must also be silent, and that makes a life more refined and much finer. But which came first, the concept or the number? It doesn’t really matter, now, does it? Embrace it, for to be empty, and silent, does not mean to be lacking. It means to be infinite, as only emptiness can. Stuff is limited. Find a place for it, then forget about it, if you can, for a while, at least.
   
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  hardie karges 3:57 am on December 17, 2023 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: duality ( 6 ), Hardie Karges ( 267 ), homo sapiens ( 8 ), language, logic ( 14 ), meditation ( 216 ), monkey mind ( 4 ), patanjali, samadhi ( 13 ), samatha ( 4 ), silence ( 14 ), spirituality ( 27 ), yoga ( 6 )   

  Buddhism: Silence is Better than Language…  

  

  You can say ‘namaste’ all day and prove little. You can say nothing and prove much. Or you can sit in samadhi all day and prove everything, ‘samadhi’ being that meditative state of total absorption, in which the threads of language are locked out at the gates without credentials for entry. Because language is that element of mental activity tainted with the brush of corruption, duality at its most obvious, subjects verbing adjectivized objects so adverbially that prepositions threaten to revolt and assume post-positions, conjunctions just looking for somewhere to put an ‘and,’ ‘but’ only ‘if’ conditions can be avoided, so tenses only indicative, nothing subjunctive allowed. 

  All of which is to say that there’s more to life than language, OR logic, and often it’s even positively negative, if you care to find some meditative transcendence for even a moment in this increasingly noisy world or ours, crowded and clusterf*cked almost beyond recognition of the sublime Nature that it once was, notwithstanding the sporadic violence inherent to that same Nature.  

  Language is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it allowed homo sapiens to subdue, or outdo, all its competitors in the competition for the low-hanging fruit of life, those skills allowing multiple individuals to act as one for the purpose of being ‘firstest with the mostest,’ skills indispensable for survival when life is on the line and food is not yet on the table. This can be proven conclusively with the timelines of our competitors’ mutual demise in the face of sapiens’ overwhelming superiority. 

  On a more practical day-to-day basis, it’s simply an easy recipe for mindfulness, antidote for the common complaint of ‘monkey mind,’ during which our minds are so possessed of internal chatter that it’s virtually impossible to think properly, much less achieve some level of ‘calm abiding,’ i.e. samatha. So, ironically, the very thing that is our military strength is our existential downfall—unless we can control it. This is the unique sapiens challenge to zoological superiority and key to the future ascendance of our species—or not. Thus, Buddhist practice is more than an individual accomplishment; it’s truly intrinsic to our survival. 

   
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  hardie karges 4:05 am on December 3, 2023 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: dharma ( 35 ), Facebook ( 19 ), Hardie Karges ( 267 ), language, meditation ( 216 ), Russell Brand, Thailand ( 75 ), Vipassana ( 15 )   

  Buddhism and Language: Inner Space and Outer Space…  

  

  How can I quiet the voices in my head, when I can’t quiet the voices all around me? That’s what meditation is for, silent meditation, no app necessary. This is the conquering conundrum for much of Buddhism, of course, as when I knowingly posted pictures on Facebook this week of my search for the Buddha ‘out there, somewhere,’ roaming in the Thai countryside. I did that just to see how many people would advise me to change my search and look inward, which is the correct approach, of course, and which they did. And that’s possibly even true of any religion, though probably more so for Buddhism. 

  But it’s especially true for the practice of meditation, regardless of the religion, particularly when the meditation is of the traditional silent type, no apps necessary nor any commentary by Russell Brand, haha, the only likely difference being that where religion might give answers, meditation would only bring calmness. Vipassana claims insight, and that may be true, but ultimately unpredictable, and unnecessary, and I would rather not place the burden of proof upon the method of inquiry. 

  Because that is not the traditional goal of meditation, nor should it be, meditation being defined as that activity erasing the slate of its burden of language, whereas insight is usually defined by the language that accompanies it. That’s why I tend to avoid guided meditation, except as a form of ‘dharma talk,’ it not really producing the ‘calm abiding’ that I expect from meditation, if I expect anything. I go there to get away from language, not to add more to it. But maybe that’s just me. For me language is just too important to ignore. 

   
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  hardie karges 3:12 am on November 20, 2023 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Alexander, Brahminists ( 2 ), Buddhism ( 455 ), CHRISTIANITY ( 162 ), FUTURE ( 8 ), Gymnosophists, Hardie Karges ( 267 ), India ( 15 ), Jains ( 2 ), language, Plato ( 17 ), Pythagoras, religion ( 167 )   

  Buddhism and Christianity in the Future of the World…  

  

  Christianity was perhaps better to develop a raw wild unruly world. But Buddhism is better to sustain it. All of which avoids the issue of whether we will survive or not. But, isn’t it better to have developed the world and lost, than never to have developed it at all? Hmmm, I’m not sure, because it seems that we could have developed mentally, and consciously, without ever filling the landfills with so much kitchen appliance junk that our lives are full of, whether we ever perfect the perfect counter-top blender or not. Remember them? 

  But, one thing is for sure: if our civilization collapses, future archeologists will certainly have fun trying to figure it all out, assuming that the historical narrative is fundamental to that civilization, so, it, too, will also likely be lost. Only time will tell, because war is so fundamental to civilization, that to lay down arms, in an effort to reconcile our differences, would be seen as treason to many a competing contender to world dominance. Such is our world and our lives.  

  With the recognition that northern India and modern Europe are genetically related, it must have been interesting to sit around gatherings on the northern steppes when they all spoke a common language, but with apparently different opinions. Because northern Indian philosophy has offered a distinct alternative to the European analytical quest since time immemorial, and that is the milieu from which Buddhism arises, debates with the Brahminists and the Jains.  

  But the Platonists and Pythagoreans had their own issues, never the twain to meet, until Alexander sought the Gymnosophists there in India and the East and West renewed their long conversation left behind on the northern steppes. Now here we sit, trying to make sense of it all, human diversity trying to respond to natural laws, which can only be surmised and rarely proven in the first place or the second instance, and so the only satisfaction lies in trying—or not, if you’re a renunciant.  

   
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  hardie karges 3:09 am on October 21, 2023 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: anatta ( 22 ), arahat, bodhisattva ( 10 ), Brahmanism ( 9 ), Buddhism ( 455 ), Hardie Karges ( 267 ), Jainism ( 13 ), language, Mahayana ( 48 ), meditation ( 216 ), nirvana ( 14 ), non-dualism ( 11 ), religion ( 167 ), shunyata ( 24 ), Taoism ( 3 ), Theravada ( 53 )   

  Buddhism 201: Theravada and Mahayana  

  

  The difference between Theravada and Mahayana is the difference between Self and Other, if there is one. If you’re a ‘non-dualist,’ then there is none, though that defies common-sense logic, which seems to show a diversity of disparate objects. So, that is the point of the new religion, I suppose, to unify existence, since you gotta’ have something to believe in for a religion to have its raison d’etre. But Buddhism wasn’t concerned with such metaphysical stretches, or at least not in the beginning, though Mahayana was the evolution of a more metaphysical stage of Buddhism.  

  That coincided with a geographical transition from India toward Central Asia and then China, and which also coincided with the evolution of Taoism, so more fertile ground to plow right then and there. If the origins of early Buddhism were all about a debate (and competition) with the Brahmanists and Jains of India, then the evolution of Mahayana was all about a competition with the Taoists in China. By that time, with the shunyata ‘emptiness’ doctrine of Nagarjuna, Buddhist and Taoist metaphysics were not far apart, the main difference between the two apparently that the Buddhists were—and are—far superior meditators.  

  And if Theravadan anatta had evolved into Mahayana shunyata, then Theravadan arahats had evolved into Mahayanan bodhisattvas, the spiritually enlightened beings who forego nirvana until everyone is ready for that final step. Arahats were more content to keep it to themselves, each at his own pace. But the issue of Self and Other is a non-issue if there is no substantive Self; so how could there be a substantive Other? Still, we live our lives in the common-sense world of apparently diverse beings, and so it is there that we must find solutions to common-sense problems. My conclusion? Save yourself, and then save the world. Good luck out there. 

   
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  hardie karges 4:17 am on October 15, 2023 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: BLM ( 2 ), boycott ( 2 ), Hardie Karges ( 267 ), language, meditation ( 216 ), monkey-mind ( 3 ), politics ( 32 ), silence ( 14 )   

  Buddhism 499: The Only App You Need Is Silence    

  

  If in doubt, then leave it out. Some of the cleverest words are never spoken, simply because they might hurt someone in the process…and that’s not good. But that’s one of the most difficult tasks for a Western convert to Buddhism, especially Americans, for whom argumentation is a way of life, even on a good day, even for the best of us, schooled in the liberal arts and dedicated to the proposition that all humans are created equal. 

  But sometimes the advanced degrees only get in the way of politeness and forbearance, which is often seen as old-fashioned or too folksy in an age where a clenched fist stands for political correctness and a loud mouth stands for factual correctness. Good luck with that. But I forgive the BLM (no, not the Bureau of Land Management) for the naïve assumption that ‘Silence is Violence,’ since I know where they’re coming from and largely agree with their goals if not tactics. If history has taught me anything, it’s taught me that there are usually better tactics than violence, or even confrontation. Just ask C.C. Boycott.

  As Buddhists, though, peace of mind is one of the main goals of our path, and that’s non-negotiable, just like human rights and freedom of expression. But patience is a virtue, and most arguments are non-essential. I once had a policy with a previous partner that whenever an argument lasted too long, we should stop, sleep on it, then come back to it again the next day. Guess what? Not once could we even remember what the argument was about, much less care to revisit it the next day, not once. 

  That’s typical of lower-level mind-stuff. We argue the most minute details to the last breath, and still people die of unnecessary wars at a rate that never seems to abate, though that point is arguable, too, haha. Meditation is the best response (non-response?) to too much mind-stuff, of course, and I won’t insult the ape community by calling it ‘monkey-mind.’ That’s us. The only difference is that they don’t meditate, not yet. Silence is our birthright. Be kind and don’t intrude on that of others.  

   
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  hardie karges 3:08 am on August 12, 2023 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 455 ), CHRISTIANITY ( 162 ), Hardie Karges ( 267 ), language, meditation ( 216 ), psychotherapy ( 2 ), silence ( 14 ), spiritual bypass   

  Buddhism or Psychotherapy? Mix and Match…  

  

  Psychotherapy heals with talk. Buddhism heals with silence, i.e. meditation. Which is better? That’s your choice, or it could be a combination of the two, in which a sweet spot is found, somewhere near the center, in something of a perfect and creative combination of the two. Because psychotherapy runs the risk of never really solving the problem, since there are always more words to toss on the fire, while Buddhism runs the risk of never really solving the problem, because they ‘bypass’ it and merely leave it there dangling helpless. 

  Both criticisms may be right to some extent, but it may be helpful to ask why. Because it seems as if psychotherapy does its share of ‘bypassing,’ also, but in an attempt to get at the root of the problem, not some superficial solution. The problem is that it never ends. Psychotherapists don’t expect their clients to articulate their problem for themselves, but only offer enough clues that the psychotherapist might have some insight into the underlying causes that manifest in ways that can be crippling to the victim. Buddhist meditation is often accused of making an end-run straight to the problem’s superficial solution, without really dealing with the issues. 

  One interesting aspect of psychotherapy is that it tends to be a Western ‘problem,’ by world measures, i.e. the people seeking such help tend to be European or European-descended by birth. Psychotherapists scarcely exist in many Asian countries (this is changing), and when they do, are often there for Western ex-patriates and their English language. So, does the entire Asian continent ‘bypass’ its supposed need to confront its deepest darkest demons by linguistic means, or does the West maybe have a problem of loving the ‘dualism’ of language, i.e. usually Indo-European language, something which never seems to let us go, unless we let it go. 

  Thus the ‘problem’ seems to be a slippery one. The more we examine it, the harder it is to find. By this point in my life, I may indeed have a predilection for the silence over the noise, but I’m almost always willing to split the difference, as long as that allows a meandering path and a hopefully creative solution. This isn’t Math 101, after all. So, let’s say that the full thesis can be forsaken forthwith, in favor of a soft solution, in which the linguistic and existential hurdles are acknowledged, including sexual slights and psychic manipulation, as long as there is no expectation of ever any total reconciliation. Silence is more honest than that. It allows unlimited freedom of movement, after all, with no retribution necessary. Deal. 

   
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  hardie karges 2:53 am on August 6, 2023 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: anapanasati ( 8 ), Buddhism ( 455 ), CHRISTIANITY ( 162 ), dharma ( 35 ), Hardie Karges ( 267 ), language, mantra, meditation ( 216 ), mindfulness ( 35 ), New Age ( 8 ), samatha ( 4 ), Theravada ( 53 ), Tibetan ( 3 ), Transcendental Meditation ( 4 ), Vipassana ( 15 ), yoga ( 6 )   

  Space is the Place–to Meditate…  

  

  You don’t have to go anywhere to meditate, except inside. Much is made in the modern New Age movements of all the different kinds of meditation, which, according to the books and blogs can easily number into the dozens, if not hundreds. But most of those sources aren’t really Buddhist, not in any strict sense. Still, a quick survey reveals a plethora: mindfulness, spiritual, focused, movement, mantra, transcendental (TM), progressive, loving-kindness, visualization, guided, mantra, present moment, Vipassana, chakra, yoga, and ‘candle-gazing.’ That’s a lot of bliss, and we’re only getting started. 

  And that’s the problem, of course, that meditation is often marketed as some kind of bliss machine, when nothing could really be further from the truth. With the possible exception of Vipassana, i.e. ‘insight,’ none of the above could really even be considered Buddhist, which seems to originate with ‘anapanasati,’ awareness of breath, before subdividing into ‘samatha,’ calm abiding, and the aforementioned Vipassana, which puts the goal first and foremost, the insight that one expects to get from the practice.  

  Now, I’m not sure where ‘guided meditation’ originated, but that is unheard of in strict Theravada Buddhism, where silence reigns supreme and strict stillness is the foundation for that. Now, I suspect that guided meditation is chiefly a modern Western-promoted permutation, for Westerners who just can’t stand silence, but will happily sit for a story, but I could be wrong, since Tibetan meditation seems very eclectic and certainly could incorporate some spoken word(s).  

  But for me meditation is silent, emptiness incarnate, and guided meditation is a hybrid form which incorporates a ‘dharma talk’ into the practice itself, certainly not a bad thing, BUT: silence is still golden, at least in my book. If you have a problem with silence, then you should really work on that if you really want to delve deep into Buddhism. Because, as I said in the opening statement, “you don’t have to go anywhere to meditate, except inside.” And that’s the trick, to go inside yourself, where thought becomes anti-thought and talk becomes anti-talk. Thus, everything is shown to be the opposite of what it seems, and that is not a bad thing. “Meditate for at least twenty minutes a day, unless you don’t have time, and then meditate for an hour.” That says it all. 

   
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  hardie karges 5:15 am on July 16, 2023 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 455 ), control ( 6 ), freedom ( 14 ), Hardie Karges ( 267 ), language, meditation ( 216 ), Right Action (karma) ( 3 ), Right Aspiration, Right Effort ( 2 ), Right Livelihood ( 2 ), Right Mindfulness ( 2 ), Right View ( 2 ), self-control ( 5 )   

  Buddhist Right Speech 

  

  Right speech (samma vaca) is easy, because you really don’t have to say anything. That’s the point. But if you do say something, then, say something nice. Most of Buddhism is that way. You don’t have to promote anything. you don’t have to do anything. But if you do something, then do something good. Say something good. Be something good. Because you don’t know until you try it. 

  I’m referring to the Buddhist Eightfold Path, of course, that final Nobel Truth after the previous three others which showed the suffering of the world, its main cause—craving, and its main treatment—release from craving. The rest are the Eightfold Path, something like the Eight Commandments, in which the sage advices are a bit sager, like Right View, Right Aspiration, Right Action (karma), Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration (meditation).  

  Buddhism is not a controlling religion. If it were, then it would want to control the moments of the day, minute, and hour: prayer at such-and-such a time, meals at such-a-time, etc., as if these were the important thing of religion. But when a Buddhist says that he wants control, then he wants self-control, a measure of forbearance against predatory life and logic that are certain to happen if our flanks are left unguarded. More importantly, this is a freedom FROM, not a freedom TO, and that means all the difference in the world…