Day 56 of 365: Dusting Our Boots Off

Sometimes, in the heat of suffering, we just want to knock the dust of samsara off our boots and get out of here.  This impulse to escape can be productive in the sense that one is connecting with revulsion towards suffering.  However, solidifying that into a goal of some kind, a goal to get from samsara to nirvana, is a provisional view according to the Middle Way teachings.  How would nirvana and samsara be related if they both truly existed?  If nirvana arose after samsara, then nirvana would have arisen from samsara and would be subject to the same impermanence.  If samsara existed after nirvana, then nirvana, with no reference point of samsara or suffering, could not be defined.  Therefore, nirvana does not exist in a solid real way as somewhere separate from samsara.  When we find ourselves thinking there are greener pastures over the horizon, perhaps flashing on this idea will remind us that actual liberation starts with staying with all our confusion and our impulse to escape.

Day 55 of 365: Two Steps

There is not a single phenomenon
That is not dependently arisen.
Therefore, there is not a single phenomenon
That is not empty.

It seems that Nagarjuna gives us a two step process here to approach emptiness.  Step 1 is to see everything as dependently arisen, which seems more approachable that see everything as empty.  Moving throughout our day, what do we see that is not dependently arisen?  Flash on the dependent nature of everything you encounter.  Take a couple solid-seeming phenomena and investigate more closely.  In many cases, our belief that things are not dependently arisen seems more like being dismissive.  We know that causes and conditions are necessary for everything to arise, but we sort of push that off to the side.  It seems we must strengthen our confidence in this and train in seeing deeper and not dismissing.  Step 2 is to see all phenomena as empty.  Once we have confidence in the nature of things, or a thing, as dependently arisen, we can ask how solid it is?  Is our experience open, spacious, and relaxed?  Are phenomena dream-like, similar to reflections in water?  Are we still taking our concepts as real?  It seems that perhaps Step 2 is a litmus test for Step 1.  Perhaps our understanding of dependently arisen phenomena is not deep enough if we are not experiencing the world as appearance-emptiness.

Day 54 of 365: Possibilities

If emptiness is possible,
Then everything is possible,
But if emptiness is impossible,
Then nothing else is possible either.

To explain this passage from Nagarjuna, Khenpo draws a connection between emptiness and dependent origination, saying that they are the same.  The conclusion of every argument to date has been that whatever we were considering was dependently arisen mere appearance.  What about the converse?  If there was something out there that was not dependently arisen mere appearance, then it would be either not dependently arisen or not an appearance.  If it doesn't appear in some way, there be nothing to discuss.  If it is not dependently arisen, then it is independent, free of causes and conditions.  Such a thing would then inherently exist and therefore would not be empty.

With emptiness or dependent origination, anything is free to arise with the right causes and conditions.  Thus, everything is possible.  If dependent origination was not true, then there would be no cause for anything to come into existence or to change.  As Khenpo says, "Nothing would every arise or cease."  Nothing else would be possible in this case.

How does this affect how we approach the day?  Do we view our day as solid and predetermined or do we view it as unbounded, with the space for anything to arise with the right causes and conditions?  What does this imply about the most difficult situations and people?

Day 53 of 365: Klesha Juiciness

On any given day, our kleshas can seem as real as a gorilla wearing an electrically charged vest.  It can seem daunting to even begin to consider approaching them.  And, once we do, we feel it's going to get ugly in more ways than one.  As curious humans, we need to look at the kleshas and understand whether or not we think they are real.  The teachings say that our misunderstanding of our experience fuels the kleshas themselves and that we must take a closer look at our basic reactions to our experience.  For example, consider desire and aversion.  Both of these are fueled by our fundamental, gut-level belief that something is pleasant or unpleasant.  This, however, is like putting mayo on your sandwich.  The experience, like the sandwich, is already made and we're putting something on top of it.  When we experience something, like a smelly trash can or a fragrant bush, there is a split second before we label.  Think of very hot water.  When you put your hand in very hot water, there is a moment where you don't know whether it is hot or cold.  Eventually, we figure it out and label frantically.

At the level of logic, we can think through the fact that pleasant and unpleasant are in fact dependently related, meaning they don't have an inherent existence.  When we do this, we realize that our kleshas are built on a faulty foundation.  We must re-train ourselves in this view again and again.

Day 53 of 365: Antidotes

Khenpo spends a chapter of his text discussing the nature Tathagata.  In the context of this discussion, he mentions that it could be appropriate to talk about the Tathagata as existent, nonexistent, or both depending on the context.  In truth, the nature of the Tathagata is beyond the four extremes.  However, we, as beings caught in ignorance most of the time, tend to gravitate towards one of the four extremes.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that many of us are kind of stuck in one of the four extremes--entangled perhaps.  To counteract our entanglement, it could be beneficial to contemplate the opposite extreme.  Most of the time we take reality to be 100% independent, lasting, and singular.  To counteract that, we could contemplate nonexistence.  While this is not the true nature, it helps free us from our entanglement, our addiction, to existence.  One could say the same thing for extreme nihilism, though that is usually less of a concern.  In those moments, perhaps it is beneficial to consider the fact that you can't really zero out the world.  Usually that view self-corrects when you bump into a parking meter, stub your toe, hear a loud noise, or get "jolted" by the world.  Wouldn't it be interesting to try to view the world from the perspective of each of the four extremes just to see what it is like and what might happen?