Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Confucianism and Chinese Philosophy for one Contemporary Californian
Here is a link to a recent interview with this humble host of "Ethics and Spirituality Today"
Also "Original Confucianism: An Introduction to the Superior Person" is now on
Kindle
Nook,
and iTunes.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
A Super Bowl Meditation
Reading over the Lao Tzu ch. 77 this morning I was struck by these lines:
'The sage acts without taking credit,
Achieves without attachment.
He does not want to display his worthiness' (Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching(Yi Wu trans.) Ch. 77)
While these lines have long been of interest, today they elicited a unique response, that of 'show-boating athletes', particularly, with the Super Bowl coming up, celebrating a touchdown came to me.
I was then reminded of NFL great Barry Sanders, perhaps the greatest running back of all time, who after each touchdown, no matter how spectacular, would simply hand the ball to the referee, leaving his teammates to do the celebrating for him.
While Barry Sanders is not likely a sage (as this term in Chinese philosophy is reserved for the ancient sage-kings and Confucius alone), his under-spoken celebration said more, without saying anything, than any of the most over the top celebrations ever did. I remember very few celebrations, nor the athletes that performed them. But Barry Sanders' 'celebrating by non-celebrating' is the most memorable of all and a fitting image to the lasting power of Lao Tzu's action in non-action.
'The sage acts without taking credit,
Achieves without attachment.
He does not want to display his worthiness' (Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching(Yi Wu trans.) Ch. 77)
While these lines have long been of interest, today they elicited a unique response, that of 'show-boating athletes', particularly, with the Super Bowl coming up, celebrating a touchdown came to me.
I was then reminded of NFL great Barry Sanders, perhaps the greatest running back of all time, who after each touchdown, no matter how spectacular, would simply hand the ball to the referee, leaving his teammates to do the celebrating for him.
While Barry Sanders is not likely a sage (as this term in Chinese philosophy is reserved for the ancient sage-kings and Confucius alone), his under-spoken celebration said more, without saying anything, than any of the most over the top celebrations ever did. I remember very few celebrations, nor the athletes that performed them. But Barry Sanders' 'celebrating by non-celebrating' is the most memorable of all and a fitting image to the lasting power of Lao Tzu's action in non-action.
Mindfulness Meditation and Natural Clarity
This is another article I wrote for examiner.com based on the post 'Healing the Healer Within':
According to Lao Tzu, our original, natural, ordinary state is that of harmony. We need only return to simplicity to return to this original Way. Like a hand that is grasping in murky water, our active mind can churn up more and more clutter. When we stop seeking and stop grasping, the murkiness begins to settle and we can experience natural clarity.
One increasingly popular way to allow the mind to settle is the practice of mindfulness meditation. Dr. Rina Sircar has been teaching mindfulness meditation at Taungpulu Kaba Aye Dhamma Center in the Santa Cruz mountains, and Taungpulu Kaba Aye Meditation Center, in the Mission Distict, for over 30 years.
The first foundational lesson that Dr. Sircar gives is focusing the mind’s attention on the in and out of our breath. This practice anchors the mind on the breath. If the practitioners become distracted and their minds begin to wander they need only remember to return their minds to focusing on their in and out breathing.
Doing this time and time again allows the practitioner to experience all the fleeting thoughts and aspirations of the mind as they continually arise and pass away. It also gives practitioners the ability to experience something that remains, something simple and natural, beneath every thought.
Mindfulness meditation is like the analogy of the hand searching in murky water; our attention is the hand churning the waters of the mind. Stabilizing our attention, like stilling our hand, allows the murk, the excessive thought, excessive desire, to settle, opening the way for original clarity.
With such a clear mind, insight can shine through, bringing life and insight into our lives. With this insight, we are less likely to view the world with a narrow focus on achieving our desire or fulfilling our ambition. We can instead see the world as it is, the life and insight that we have opened up in ourselves responding to the life and insight in all things.
According to Lao Tzu, our original, natural, ordinary state is that of harmony. We need only return to simplicity to return to this original Way. Like a hand that is grasping in murky water, our active mind can churn up more and more clutter. When we stop seeking and stop grasping, the murkiness begins to settle and we can experience natural clarity.
One increasingly popular way to allow the mind to settle is the practice of mindfulness meditation. Dr. Rina Sircar has been teaching mindfulness meditation at Taungpulu Kaba Aye Dhamma Center in the Santa Cruz mountains, and Taungpulu Kaba Aye Meditation Center, in the Mission Distict, for over 30 years.
The first foundational lesson that Dr. Sircar gives is focusing the mind’s attention on the in and out of our breath. This practice anchors the mind on the breath. If the practitioners become distracted and their minds begin to wander they need only remember to return their minds to focusing on their in and out breathing.
Doing this time and time again allows the practitioner to experience all the fleeting thoughts and aspirations of the mind as they continually arise and pass away. It also gives practitioners the ability to experience something that remains, something simple and natural, beneath every thought.
Mindfulness meditation is like the analogy of the hand searching in murky water; our attention is the hand churning the waters of the mind. Stabilizing our attention, like stilling our hand, allows the murk, the excessive thought, excessive desire, to settle, opening the way for original clarity.
With such a clear mind, insight can shine through, bringing life and insight into our lives. With this insight, we are less likely to view the world with a narrow focus on achieving our desire or fulfilling our ambition. We can instead see the world as it is, the life and insight that we have opened up in ourselves responding to the life and insight in all things.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Humanity, harmony and daily life
This is a new article I wrote as an 'SF Spirituality Examiner' on Examiner.com:
As a prominent Pacific Rim city, San Francisco has long been at the forefront of a vibrant cross-cultural exchange with the Far East. From food to meditation, from tai chi to 'Kung Fu' (Wu Kung), the Bay Area has pioneered the integration of East and West. Leading 'pioneers' like Alan Watts in spirituality, Gary Snyder in poetry and even Bruce Lee in martial arts all have strong Bay Area ties.
Because of the efforts of such people, many of us are now quite familiar with key concepts from religions like Taosim or Zen Buddhism and some of us have integrated aspects of East Asian culture into our daily lives. Confucianism, perhaps the most practical and most important aspect of daily life spirituality in East Asia, however, remains generally unexplored. While Confucianism permeates every aspect of daily life in East Asia, its influence and benefits are relatively unknown or unappreciated here in San Francisco, as in much of the West. As an example, I was recently invited to speak on Confucianism (at Many Rivers Bookstore in Sebastapol) and while being introduced it was noted that I was the first speaker on Confucianism in over seven years of holding discussions on spirituality.
Confucius recognized that the most ordinary and simple aspects of daily life held the most potential for spiritual transformation, that humanity is the most powerful force available to us for ‘spiritualizing’ this Earth. Form learning about humanity, faithfulness to our truest selves and empathy with the truest selves of others, in the family, to practicing righteousness and virtue in any given situation, Confucianism strives to bring harmony to every aspect of ordinary living.
While many of us have daydreamed about a wandering the surrounding hills on a spiritual hermitage, Confucianism urges us to harmonize the most basic elements of our lives, to make everyday living our spiritual practice. Enjoying our meals, our friends and families while, all the while, enjoying the studies that deepen our understanding of them, are examples of the warm-heartedness that, when cultivated, can never be tarnished or taken away. Indeed, Confucius knew that these simple and ordinary affairs benefit humanity in the most important way.
Continue reading on Examiner.com: Humanity, harmony and daily life - San Francisco Spirituality | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/spirituality-in-san-francisco/humanity-harmony-and-daily-life#ixzz1BakL35DJ
As a prominent Pacific Rim city, San Francisco has long been at the forefront of a vibrant cross-cultural exchange with the Far East. From food to meditation, from tai chi to 'Kung Fu' (Wu Kung), the Bay Area has pioneered the integration of East and West. Leading 'pioneers' like Alan Watts in spirituality, Gary Snyder in poetry and even Bruce Lee in martial arts all have strong Bay Area ties.
Because of the efforts of such people, many of us are now quite familiar with key concepts from religions like Taosim or Zen Buddhism and some of us have integrated aspects of East Asian culture into our daily lives. Confucianism, perhaps the most practical and most important aspect of daily life spirituality in East Asia, however, remains generally unexplored. While Confucianism permeates every aspect of daily life in East Asia, its influence and benefits are relatively unknown or unappreciated here in San Francisco, as in much of the West. As an example, I was recently invited to speak on Confucianism (at Many Rivers Bookstore in Sebastapol) and while being introduced it was noted that I was the first speaker on Confucianism in over seven years of holding discussions on spirituality.
Confucius recognized that the most ordinary and simple aspects of daily life held the most potential for spiritual transformation, that humanity is the most powerful force available to us for ‘spiritualizing’ this Earth. Form learning about humanity, faithfulness to our truest selves and empathy with the truest selves of others, in the family, to practicing righteousness and virtue in any given situation, Confucianism strives to bring harmony to every aspect of ordinary living.
While many of us have daydreamed about a wandering the surrounding hills on a spiritual hermitage, Confucianism urges us to harmonize the most basic elements of our lives, to make everyday living our spiritual practice. Enjoying our meals, our friends and families while, all the while, enjoying the studies that deepen our understanding of them, are examples of the warm-heartedness that, when cultivated, can never be tarnished or taken away. Indeed, Confucius knew that these simple and ordinary affairs benefit humanity in the most important way.
Continue reading on Examiner.com: Humanity, harmony and daily life - San Francisco Spirituality | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/spirituality-in-san-francisco/humanity-harmony-and-daily-life#ixzz1BakL35DJ
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Righteousness, Humanity and Change: 'Waiting while Going'
One of the innovations and changes for this new year here at 'Ethics and Spirituality' will be the inclusion of posts that are more contextualized. Much of the content will be quite similar to that of last year but there will be an addition of posts that move from the theoretical to the practical and tone that moves from the professorial to the more personal.
The starting point and exemplar of theory in practice for Ethics and Spirituality today is, of course, the superior person of Confucianism. The superior person practices humanity and righteousness to deal with any situation. To contextualize this we will examine some very concrete scenarios of change and see the principle the superior person puts into practice in each. Generally, the superior person, simply uses a variation of two methods to deal with change, emphasizing harmonizing the situation. One method is active, bright, moving, strong, yang energy; sincerity. The other is humble, dark, indirect, soft, resting, yin energy; humility. Let's take a look at one example:
The fifth of 64 scenarios of change, as laid out in the I Ching, is 'Hsu' 'waiting while going.'
云上於天，需﹔君子以飲食宴樂。
Clouds rising up to Heaven:
‘Waiting (while Going)’
Thus the superior people (through Hsu) eat and drink,
Are joyous and of good cheer.
Clouds rising up to Heaven eventually turn into the needed rain. Waiting for this rain to materialize, farmers cultivate their fields. In the same way, through this, ‘Hsu’, waiting for what they need, preparing for it for the proper time, the superior people nourish themselves. Instead of preparing for rain they prepare in order to be ready for their Heaven’s destiny, the mandate Heaven provides. Eating and drinking in joy and good cheer is a symbol of waiting without complaining about, or deviating from the proper way, avoiding becoming unprepared for what Heaven has in store.
Superior people wait for the proper time to receive what they need by ‘preparing the field’, clearing away the weeds for receiving rain, practicing humility, emptying the mind for receiving a mandate from heaven. Whether for rain or for destiny, superior people in this situation wait and prepare for the clouds to become full, for the time to become complete.
This is an excellent practice, 'waiting while going', in preparing for a new baby, or a new career, getting ready to receive that which heaven has in store.
The starting point and exemplar of theory in practice for Ethics and Spirituality today is, of course, the superior person of Confucianism. The superior person practices humanity and righteousness to deal with any situation. To contextualize this we will examine some very concrete scenarios of change and see the principle the superior person puts into practice in each. Generally, the superior person, simply uses a variation of two methods to deal with change, emphasizing harmonizing the situation. One method is active, bright, moving, strong, yang energy; sincerity. The other is humble, dark, indirect, soft, resting, yin energy; humility. Let's take a look at one example:
The fifth of 64 scenarios of change, as laid out in the I Ching, is 'Hsu' 'waiting while going.'
云上於天，需﹔君子以飲食宴樂。
Clouds rising up to Heaven:
‘Waiting (while Going)’
Thus the superior people (through Hsu) eat and drink,
Are joyous and of good cheer.
Clouds rising up to Heaven eventually turn into the needed rain. Waiting for this rain to materialize, farmers cultivate their fields. In the same way, through this, ‘Hsu’, waiting for what they need, preparing for it for the proper time, the superior people nourish themselves. Instead of preparing for rain they prepare in order to be ready for their Heaven’s destiny, the mandate Heaven provides. Eating and drinking in joy and good cheer is a symbol of waiting without complaining about, or deviating from the proper way, avoiding becoming unprepared for what Heaven has in store.
Superior people wait for the proper time to receive what they need by ‘preparing the field’, clearing away the weeds for receiving rain, practicing humility, emptying the mind for receiving a mandate from heaven. Whether for rain or for destiny, superior people in this situation wait and prepare for the clouds to become full, for the time to become complete.
This is an excellent practice, 'waiting while going', in preparing for a new baby, or a new career, getting ready to receive that which heaven has in store.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Ethics and Spirituality Today Year in Review
Welcome back to 'Ethics and Spirituality Today.' I just wanted to take a minute to reintroduce, frame and explain the general purpose and progress of the site. To date, the posts have helped to establish a broad and overarching theoretical foundation for the site and to gauge interest for its continuation. (not to mention helping this post-doc continue writing and working, building on the momentum of the dissertation process.) From Western Philosophy, through Emerson, to Eastern, through Sri Aurobindo and focusing on Chinese Philosophy, specifically Confucianism, 'Ethics and Spirituality Today' has covered a wide range of topics. All of the posts are meant to relate directly to daily life in contemporary society.
There has been a small but continued and consistent interest in the site thus far from across the globe. From page-views on Aurobindo and modern Hinduism in India, to Metaphysics in Eastern Europe, 'Ethics and Spirituality' is beginning to elicit wide ranging interest.
Thank you for your continued interest and support, and look for new innovations here in the coming year.
There has been a small but continued and consistent interest in the site thus far from across the globe. From page-views on Aurobindo and modern Hinduism in India, to Metaphysics in Eastern Europe, 'Ethics and Spirituality' is beginning to elicit wide ranging interest.
Thank you for your continued interest and support, and look for new innovations here in the coming year.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Dealing with Modern Times Through Spirit
...(continued)...This integral perfection is again an extension of the Hindu tradition. As the Bhagavad Gita inspires its followers to relinquish the fruits of action, so to does Aurobindo urge us to leave behind our selfish action because it hinders action in union with the Divine. As in the Gita, our actions are no longer our own. For Aurobindo they are Divine. When Aurobindo speaks of bringing the divine down into the mundane realm, it is more of an allowing of spirit, as opposed to ego, become the actor. It is this allowing, allowing the connection to a higher mind, through dispersing the veil of a separate ego identity, to become the source of our all our action, the source which we can embody in the mundane. This spirit in action will naturally breed recognition of the spirit inherent in all things and naturally help allow for greater reception of spirit in all aspects of the self. Aurobindo thus succeeds in expanding, and making central this primary concern of associating spirit with the mundane life, of connecting and uniting the two. This concern which weaves in and out of the Indian tradition becomes foremost for Aurobindo in the true spirit of Tantrism. Because of the social and political climate in Aurobindo’s life, however, he expands Tantrism to become wider in its relation to modern concerns.
In his relation to modernity Aurobindo is a powerful thinker. He shows the many of the same tendencies that historically permeate the traditions of Hinduism: diligent commitment to the highest realms of human existence, a supreme all pervading Divinity within all creation, discipline in uniting with the Divinity, furthering the relationship of others to the Divinity through sympathy, and intense inner concentration upon the various realms of consciousness, these among many other similarities. However, Aurobindo becomes the exemplar of the Hindu tradition, an ambassador to modernity by expanding its ideas, refocusing the emphasis, while adhering to the tradition of welcoming new ideas innovations. Aurobindo incorporates evolution, secular materialism, social and political concern into the vast tradition. Perhaps any talented Hindu, throughout history, would have pursued the same innovations if faced with the same crisis, such is Aurobindo’s embodiment of the tradition. For Aurobindo, because social and political concerns came to the forefront he faced them with intense introspection and found that in the end, the ultimate answer was actually to adhere to the same fundamental precepts that had helped shepard India through the centuries. Remaining true to the commitment to Divinity, elucidating how the Divinity can manifest itself through humanity and thus allowing humanity to harmonize the concerns of modernity was the natural conclusion a natural progression. For Aurobindo, face to face with the seemingly insurmountable social and political difficulties, the answer remained the same as it always had been, the One answer, the One truth, the One harmonizing Divinity had to enter into these new arenas, new frontiers through its perpetual facilitators, ever evolving humanity. For Aurobindo the ultimate act of social concern was immersion in spirit and the manifestation of spirit in all realms. In union with spirit, guided by spirit, one would naturally find the best course to take when confronted with strange and difficult modernization. For Aurobindo, the ultimate social agency remained Spirit, and the propagation of Spirit in others. This union with Spirit, Spiritual teaching and its manifestation was the One ultimate, incorruptible answer to all social concerns past, present and future.
In his relation to modernity Aurobindo is a powerful thinker. He shows the many of the same tendencies that historically permeate the traditions of Hinduism: diligent commitment to the highest realms of human existence, a supreme all pervading Divinity within all creation, discipline in uniting with the Divinity, furthering the relationship of others to the Divinity through sympathy, and intense inner concentration upon the various realms of consciousness, these among many other similarities. However, Aurobindo becomes the exemplar of the Hindu tradition, an ambassador to modernity by expanding its ideas, refocusing the emphasis, while adhering to the tradition of welcoming new ideas innovations. Aurobindo incorporates evolution, secular materialism, social and political concern into the vast tradition. Perhaps any talented Hindu, throughout history, would have pursued the same innovations if faced with the same crisis, such is Aurobindo’s embodiment of the tradition. For Aurobindo, because social and political concerns came to the forefront he faced them with intense introspection and found that in the end, the ultimate answer was actually to adhere to the same fundamental precepts that had helped shepard India through the centuries. Remaining true to the commitment to Divinity, elucidating how the Divinity can manifest itself through humanity and thus allowing humanity to harmonize the concerns of modernity was the natural conclusion a natural progression. For Aurobindo, face to face with the seemingly insurmountable social and political difficulties, the answer remained the same as it always had been, the One answer, the One truth, the One harmonizing Divinity had to enter into these new arenas, new frontiers through its perpetual facilitators, ever evolving humanity. For Aurobindo the ultimate act of social concern was immersion in spirit and the manifestation of spirit in all realms. In union with spirit, guided by spirit, one would naturally find the best course to take when confronted with strange and difficult modernization. For Aurobindo, the ultimate social agency remained Spirit, and the propagation of Spirit in others. This union with Spirit, Spiritual teaching and its manifestation was the One ultimate, incorruptible answer to all social concerns past, present and future.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Integral Yoga and Social Concern
...(continued)...Just as Aurobindo shows us the social-political ramifications, outer ramifications, Western necessity, for pursuing the divine for the sake of fulfilling a sort of divine evolution, he also examines the inner tradition in terms of Yoga. Aurobindo refers to the various Indian traditions in which we find inner experience such as the Kundalini experience. He examines the various yogas as separate and distinct paths that must become synthesized. He explains that as we advance in one arena of spirit its effects manifest themselves in the other arenas. If we advance in the mental we will see the fruits of our relation to spirit manifest in action and devotion as well. Aurobindo ties these together with the additional benefit seen in Tantric yoga, the benefit of enjoying the outer universe as an extended experience of the Divine. Again we see the pattern of Aurobindo to synthesize the ancient tradition, and again we see him take it to its logical conclusion. If the yoga benefits the practitioner in all arenas of experience then would not, from the modern, global perspective, the yoga benefit humanity as a whole? Wouldn't Tantric yoga have implications in the broader social and political realms of experience. Aurobindo asks the practitioner of any yoga to, upon the growth in relation to spirit in the realm of the personal exercise, begin to seek the growth of the spiritual relation in all realms of life. Yoga for Aurobindo is the discipline by which the individual may free the self from the many egoic veils that obscure the manifestation of spirit.
SOCIAL CONCERN
Again, if this is the possibility for the individual why then is it not also the possibility for the group? In this sense Aurobindo believes that Integral Yoga is the ultimate of social activism. To lower the veils obscuring our relation to the Divine through discipline, to begin to see those veils being lowered in integral life, and to begin to see the possibility of lowering those veils through sympathetic, or better, empathetic action, is the beginning of the next stage in evolution. Again this is where Aurobindo simply extends the spirit of the Hindu tradition into realms that were not as widely understood in the 'smaller' ancient world. Aurobindo simply applies the spirit of the tradition to suit his experience with the modern world, a world in which social, global questions are increasingly significant. Many efforts are made by many people for social justice, Aurobindo’s own philosophy arose partly out of grave concern for changing India. But his answers come in the form of intense spiritual practice, a synthesizing practice that plays within the outer world but always remains rooted in its relationship to Divinity. The cultivation of spirit in oneself and in the larger social sphere is for Aurobindo the ultimate act of social concern. If, as the Gita illustrates, each human no matter their transgressions has the capacity for spiritual achievement then the logical extension of this would be the capacity for large scale group achievement...(conclusion to follow)...
SOCIAL CONCERN
Again, if this is the possibility for the individual why then is it not also the possibility for the group? In this sense Aurobindo believes that Integral Yoga is the ultimate of social activism. To lower the veils obscuring our relation to the Divine through discipline, to begin to see those veils being lowered in integral life, and to begin to see the possibility of lowering those veils through sympathetic, or better, empathetic action, is the beginning of the next stage in evolution. Again this is where Aurobindo simply extends the spirit of the Hindu tradition into realms that were not as widely understood in the 'smaller' ancient world. Aurobindo simply applies the spirit of the tradition to suit his experience with the modern world, a world in which social, global questions are increasingly significant. Many efforts are made by many people for social justice, Aurobindo’s own philosophy arose partly out of grave concern for changing India. But his answers come in the form of intense spiritual practice, a synthesizing practice that plays within the outer world but always remains rooted in its relationship to Divinity. The cultivation of spirit in oneself and in the larger social sphere is for Aurobindo the ultimate act of social concern. If, as the Gita illustrates, each human no matter their transgressions has the capacity for spiritual achievement then the logical extension of this would be the capacity for large scale group achievement...(conclusion to follow)...
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The Bhagavad Gita and Aurobindo
...continued...This imbuing of spirit into the physical is rooted, for Aurobindo, in the Bhagavad Gita, while his adherence to evolution still distinguishes him from the Gita. Upon analyzing the Gita Aurobindo finds that it recognizes the significance of physical life but dissuades from its exclusive pursuit at the expense of moral, intellectual, aesthetic values. Aurobindo find that the Gita acknowledges the significance of established moral and aesthetic principles as significant in the growth of spiritual understanding but that ultimate truth is beyond such rigid standards. Organized religion and spiritual traditions, for Aurobindo, hold rays of light, glimpses of beauty and perfection, but, ultimately, one must find these truths in a personal manifest reality. Sri Aurobindo also saw in the Gita a respect for the path of the ascetic, the one compelled away from social life to live in sole union with the Divine. However, this also falls short of the steepest pinnacles of spiritual perfection in which the divine enters into all the realms of humanity including social and political. The life of the ascetic, in the Gita, fails the ultimate task of embedding all human action in the will of Divinity. The Gita, like Aurobindo , elucidates the divine human who has the ability to perform the work of God, like the soldier Arjuna, firm in transcendent worldly action. From here Aurobindo extends the Gita into evolutionary possibilities for the liberation of all humanity, for as the Gita brings hope to the individual for liberation why not also the collective?
Here again we see a slight expansion from Hindu tradition. Aurobindo is inspiring in his ability to take the tradition into modernity adapting for the purpose. Aurobindo remains true to the heart of the tradition and it seems that he succeeds in carrying out the spirit of Hinduism to its simple, logical, spiritual heights. If, according to the Gita, there is hope for every human no matter how wretched in their transgressions against the will of Spirit, why not also provide hope for humanity as a whole. Just as Aurobindo succeeded in offering the spirit of acceptance, inclusion and adaptation from the tradition to modernity, he succeeds in transmitting the message of the Gita and further the spirit of its cause by adapting it to the global community and the modern subject. Aurobindo seems to have the vast tradition, the yogis, the gurus of the past cheering him on into modernity. Aurobindo, at the same time, exemplifies the spirit of the Western exploration by pioneering new territory for the Indian tradition...(to be continued)...
Here again we see a slight expansion from Hindu tradition. Aurobindo is inspiring in his ability to take the tradition into modernity adapting for the purpose. Aurobindo remains true to the heart of the tradition and it seems that he succeeds in carrying out the spirit of Hinduism to its simple, logical, spiritual heights. If, according to the Gita, there is hope for every human no matter how wretched in their transgressions against the will of Spirit, why not also provide hope for humanity as a whole. Just as Aurobindo succeeded in offering the spirit of acceptance, inclusion and adaptation from the tradition to modernity, he succeeds in transmitting the message of the Gita and further the spirit of its cause by adapting it to the global community and the modern subject. Aurobindo seems to have the vast tradition, the yogis, the gurus of the past cheering him on into modernity. Aurobindo, at the same time, exemplifies the spirit of the Western exploration by pioneering new territory for the Indian tradition...(to be continued)...
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Spiritual Evolution Continued: Inward and Outward
...(continued)...If, in his synthesis of the modern West with ancient Hinduism, Aurobindo succeeds in embodying the spirit of Hindu inclusion, he does so in contrast to one of its central concepts. This concept, the idea of the outer world as illusory, hindering our spiritual recognition, is common in many forms, in many Hindu traditions. It was a powerful tool to show the seeker that the finite world of sense pleasures and material acquisitions is a perilous place to expend one’s life force. In other words, concepts like 'Maya' helped the seeker to understand that the material world should not be the sole and primary arena for one’s action. For one, we will inevitably be torn from this material world by death. This tool helped prevent many thinkers from falling ill to the Western disease of spiritual, inner atrophy. Because so many people are easily entangled in the illusion of the permanence of material success, concepts liked Samsara act as warning signs against such entanglement. These concepts inspired great spiritual accomplishment, great mystical achievements. However, Aurobindo challenged them.
Aurobindo challenged the notions that the physical world was somehow faulty by opening up a discussion on the nature of the physical Universe as a sort of Divine play. Aurobindo argued that the world should not be looked at as a distrustful illusion because that would render the ultimate God, within us and everywhere around us, as in the Upanishads, as a deluded hallucinator. Concepts such as Maya do help to discourage entanglement within the material world at the expense of the spiritual. However, as one begins to witness the growth of spirit within so should one begin to see that same spirit within the myriad material manifestations. If one can play in the world of materials, while simultaneously understanding the world’s inherent Spirit, then the inner and the outer merge as one, as manifest Spirit. More than this, the natural world, the world of external appearances, was forever evolving for Aurobindo. He succeeds in merging one of the basic tenets of Western scientific observation, with the life and spirit of Eastern mystical observation. Man’s place in this divine play is as the closest creature to realizing the inherent Self Divinity. Humanity is the current height of a sort of spiritual evolution and humanity must realize the full potential of spiritual Self realization for this evolution to continue.
Although Aurobindo seems on the surface to break from Eastern tradition by asserting claims that were rooted in concepts as such as evolution, linear time and the material world, he remains consistent with a central theme of the mystical tradition of India, that the inner Atman, God at the center of the Self, God as the truest sense of the Self, is united with the true physical world. In other words this world is permeated by Spirit. This universe, this Creation, has divinity within everything. Aurobindo asserts that we are indeed part of the one ultimate reality as in the ancient example of the salt in salt water, and that we just need to transcend the limits of our invented personalities in order to live in unity with divinity. Aurobindo believed that humanity as a whole moves ceaselessly toward greater and greater spiritual understanding, that involvement in the physical world can help facilitate that advance and that the natural world stimulates us to further growth. This idea is more than a superficial break from tradition. This idea is truly a synthesis of Eastern with Western, unique in the major traditions of Indian thought. This spiritual evolution, and its manifestation, working itself out in the physical universe, is where Aurobindo distinguishes himself from most of standard Hindu tradition. Imbuing spirit into the physical evolution is also where Aurobindo distinguishes himself from most of accepted modern Western scientific thought...(more to come)
Aurobindo challenged the notions that the physical world was somehow faulty by opening up a discussion on the nature of the physical Universe as a sort of Divine play. Aurobindo argued that the world should not be looked at as a distrustful illusion because that would render the ultimate God, within us and everywhere around us, as in the Upanishads, as a deluded hallucinator. Concepts such as Maya do help to discourage entanglement within the material world at the expense of the spiritual. However, as one begins to witness the growth of spirit within so should one begin to see that same spirit within the myriad material manifestations. If one can play in the world of materials, while simultaneously understanding the world’s inherent Spirit, then the inner and the outer merge as one, as manifest Spirit. More than this, the natural world, the world of external appearances, was forever evolving for Aurobindo. He succeeds in merging one of the basic tenets of Western scientific observation, with the life and spirit of Eastern mystical observation. Man’s place in this divine play is as the closest creature to realizing the inherent Self Divinity. Humanity is the current height of a sort of spiritual evolution and humanity must realize the full potential of spiritual Self realization for this evolution to continue.
Although Aurobindo seems on the surface to break from Eastern tradition by asserting claims that were rooted in concepts as such as evolution, linear time and the material world, he remains consistent with a central theme of the mystical tradition of India, that the inner Atman, God at the center of the Self, God as the truest sense of the Self, is united with the true physical world. In other words this world is permeated by Spirit. This universe, this Creation, has divinity within everything. Aurobindo asserts that we are indeed part of the one ultimate reality as in the ancient example of the salt in salt water, and that we just need to transcend the limits of our invented personalities in order to live in unity with divinity. Aurobindo believed that humanity as a whole moves ceaselessly toward greater and greater spiritual understanding, that involvement in the physical world can help facilitate that advance and that the natural world stimulates us to further growth. This idea is more than a superficial break from tradition. This idea is truly a synthesis of Eastern with Western, unique in the major traditions of Indian thought. This spiritual evolution, and its manifestation, working itself out in the physical universe, is where Aurobindo distinguishes himself from most of standard Hindu tradition. Imbuing spirit into the physical evolution is also where Aurobindo distinguishes himself from most of accepted modern Western scientific thought...(more to come)
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Spiritual Evolution, East and West
...(continued)...Aurobindo’s ability to include such ‘Western’ values into his philosophy is true to the Indian tradition which throughout history has made possible the inclusion of widely varying ideas. Few places in the world have fostered such diversity of thought over time. Hinduism adopted many concepts from Buddhism even though the Buddha’s teaching were partly formulated in critical response to some of the Orthodox Hindu concepts of the era. Hinduism included much of Jain thought which may have helped to encourage the devoted vegetarianism even though vegetarianism is contradicted in many ceremonial passages from the Vedas. Christian missionaries found great tolerance and respect for their work in India. Indians thought that the concept of Christ as the one God was perfectly in harmony with their many other traditional ‘one Gods’. Historically even the tensions with Islam were often harmonized and Muslims were befriended into Hindu culture. Aurobindo’s work is (in harmony with his own evolutionary conceptions) a natural extension, evolution, innovation of Hindu thought to include Modernity into its varied systems. Even as Aurobindo is expounding a doctrine of evolution he himself is embodying the ultimate spirit of Hindu tradition by harmonizing Modernity in the West with the strength of the Hindu spiritual tradition. His work seems to graciously invite the strange outward seeking tradition of the West to make itself at home in the vast house of spiritual inward seeking that is Hinduism.
Ironically as Aurobindo acts as the gracious host inviting a stranger into his vast traditional home, he acts as pioneer and explorer for the West trying to make sense of the perplexing mystical traditions in India. He embodies the pioneer spirit of the West which seems to be forever seeking new places to conquer, and, in turn, new harvests to reap. In this case the frontier is India’s mystical tradition, and the harvest is the Spirit that, for Aurobindo, permeates all existence. The West has continuously approached the lands of the world and its peoples as places to explore, conquer, and ‘tame’. This led Western culture to explore even beyond the limitations of our own atmosphere with vast space exploration. The work of Aurobindo encourages the Western mind to continue it exploration, to conquer the realms of Spirit, the realms of inward seeking. To explore the inner, to understand and tame the forces that are the inner frontiers, the world represented by the tradition of Hinduism, is issuing a challenge that should be enticing to the expanding West.
In this great meeting of East and West, Aurobindo at once praises Hinduism’s greatest strength, the exploration of all things spiritual, while at the same time exposing its greatest weakness, the tendency to become stagnantly preoccupied with bodiless mysticism. The answer to this problem is the tradition of outer development in the material realm as embodied in the Western model which Aurobindo at once praises for its material development while exposing its great weakness in the realm of Spiritual Devotion. Most problems in the Western model expand out a lack of insight into the Spirit beyond the form, the lack of attention to the motives behind outward material exploration have brought us such physical monstrosities as the atomic bomb. The ability of Aurobindo to synthesize the two world views is an impressive feat. In hindsight this synthesis as a solution to the difficulties of the two cultures seems like an obvious one. Perhaps, according to Aurobindo, this is precisely why the two worlds are meeting in such a way: natural evolution has brought them to the point where they must synthesize through spiritual evolution, this evolution bringing about the manifestation of Divine consciousness...(to be continued)...
Ironically as Aurobindo acts as the gracious host inviting a stranger into his vast traditional home, he acts as pioneer and explorer for the West trying to make sense of the perplexing mystical traditions in India. He embodies the pioneer spirit of the West which seems to be forever seeking new places to conquer, and, in turn, new harvests to reap. In this case the frontier is India’s mystical tradition, and the harvest is the Spirit that, for Aurobindo, permeates all existence. The West has continuously approached the lands of the world and its peoples as places to explore, conquer, and ‘tame’. This led Western culture to explore even beyond the limitations of our own atmosphere with vast space exploration. The work of Aurobindo encourages the Western mind to continue it exploration, to conquer the realms of Spirit, the realms of inward seeking. To explore the inner, to understand and tame the forces that are the inner frontiers, the world represented by the tradition of Hinduism, is issuing a challenge that should be enticing to the expanding West.
In this great meeting of East and West, Aurobindo at once praises Hinduism’s greatest strength, the exploration of all things spiritual, while at the same time exposing its greatest weakness, the tendency to become stagnantly preoccupied with bodiless mysticism. The answer to this problem is the tradition of outer development in the material realm as embodied in the Western model which Aurobindo at once praises for its material development while exposing its great weakness in the realm of Spiritual Devotion. Most problems in the Western model expand out a lack of insight into the Spirit beyond the form, the lack of attention to the motives behind outward material exploration have brought us such physical monstrosities as the atomic bomb. The ability of Aurobindo to synthesize the two world views is an impressive feat. In hindsight this synthesis as a solution to the difficulties of the two cultures seems like an obvious one. Perhaps, according to Aurobindo, this is precisely why the two worlds are meeting in such a way: natural evolution has brought them to the point where they must synthesize through spiritual evolution, this evolution bringing about the manifestation of Divine consciousness...(to be continued)...
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sri Aurobindo: Hinduism and Modernity
Indian scholars during the days of the British empire’s Indian occupation were faced with many philosophical dilemmas. The root of these dilemmas was a reexamination of the role of philosophy and religion in growing modernity. Indian thinkers, who had long been at the forefront of inner expertise, were now faced with growing outer, social and political, upheaval. Most aspects of daily life were rapidly changing and thus the significance of the outer life in relation to spiritual pursuits was also rapidly changing and growing. A number of innovators responded to the cultural upheaval with new approaches to the thoughtful life. These approaches incorporated much of ancient wisdom, tailoring it to fit a new era. The prominent philosophy of Sri Aurobindo was especially responsive to the new intersection of old and new, East and West. His clear vision of the role of the spiritual scholar emerged from a synthesis of this massive cultural transformation. His ideas provide a distinct guideline for the role of the scholar in unfolding modernity and post modernity. As many ideas and systems became submerged in the growing tide of Western expansion Sri Aurobindo focused on Spirit as the unifying evolutionary force that could harmonize the cultural transformation.
The movement of Europe and subsequently America into the sphere of traditional cultures fascinated Aurobindo. In this he saw an evolutionary emergence of higher spiritual realities that could become manifest in tangible social and cultural realms. While some saw the need to overcome the hindrance of outdated systems, others felt compelled to protect tradition in isolation. Aurobindo, on the other hand, transcended the dualism to seek to establish a synthesis of the old with the new, the inner with the outer, East with West. He oriented his philosophical practice toward fusing the pursuit of spiritual experience with the pursuit of material advancement, ‘progress’. In this sense ‘scientific evolution’ became a ‘social-spiritual evolution’. Aurobindo focused on infusing the Life into the Western mode of growth, while simultaneously inspiring movement into the analysis of material growth, change, evolution in the Eastern models of spiritual, religious devotion. In this sense he was an Ambassador to both the traditional spiritual East as well as the materialistic scientific West.
To better act as Ambassador, Aurobindo accepted ideas such as linear, progressive time that had previously been quite rare in traditional Indian thought. Many traditional cultures perceived time in cycles; cycles of sunrise and sunset, summer and winter, full and new moon, birth and death. However, Aurobindo has become a modern exemplar of the inclusive values inherent in Hinduism by allowing linear, progressive time to co-exist with cyclical time. The concept that two ‘mutually exclusive ideas’, in Modern terms, can both be equally and harmoniously true is a signature of Hindu thought. For example, that there are many ‘one and only Gods’ poses no problem for traditional Hindu thought. Aurobindo can at once look at the world as cyclical, waxing and waning, as well as linear, evolutionary. It is obvious to anyone with eyes that time is cyclical. We see the sun rise and set, the seasons and moon wax and wane. It is also obvious to anyone who is born, grows into adolescence and decays with age that time is linear. It is equally obvious that trees, plants and animals also are born grow and die. The ancients emphasized the cyclical nature of reality because they were very closely related to the intricacies of natural, cyclical time. They intuited that memory, to the spiritual adept often feels like an illusory dream. Modern man emphasizes linear time because he is closely related to acquisition, growth, ‘progress’, and development of materials...more to come on this subject...check back in the coming days...
The movement of Europe and subsequently America into the sphere of traditional cultures fascinated Aurobindo. In this he saw an evolutionary emergence of higher spiritual realities that could become manifest in tangible social and cultural realms. While some saw the need to overcome the hindrance of outdated systems, others felt compelled to protect tradition in isolation. Aurobindo, on the other hand, transcended the dualism to seek to establish a synthesis of the old with the new, the inner with the outer, East with West. He oriented his philosophical practice toward fusing the pursuit of spiritual experience with the pursuit of material advancement, ‘progress’. In this sense ‘scientific evolution’ became a ‘social-spiritual evolution’. Aurobindo focused on infusing the Life into the Western mode of growth, while simultaneously inspiring movement into the analysis of material growth, change, evolution in the Eastern models of spiritual, religious devotion. In this sense he was an Ambassador to both the traditional spiritual East as well as the materialistic scientific West.
To better act as Ambassador, Aurobindo accepted ideas such as linear, progressive time that had previously been quite rare in traditional Indian thought. Many traditional cultures perceived time in cycles; cycles of sunrise and sunset, summer and winter, full and new moon, birth and death. However, Aurobindo has become a modern exemplar of the inclusive values inherent in Hinduism by allowing linear, progressive time to co-exist with cyclical time. The concept that two ‘mutually exclusive ideas’, in Modern terms, can both be equally and harmoniously true is a signature of Hindu thought. For example, that there are many ‘one and only Gods’ poses no problem for traditional Hindu thought. Aurobindo can at once look at the world as cyclical, waxing and waning, as well as linear, evolutionary. It is obvious to anyone with eyes that time is cyclical. We see the sun rise and set, the seasons and moon wax and wane. It is also obvious to anyone who is born, grows into adolescence and decays with age that time is linear. It is equally obvious that trees, plants and animals also are born grow and die. The ancients emphasized the cyclical nature of reality because they were very closely related to the intricacies of natural, cyclical time. They intuited that memory, to the spiritual adept often feels like an illusory dream. Modern man emphasizes linear time because he is closely related to acquisition, growth, ‘progress’, and development of materials...more to come on this subject...check back in the coming days...
Friday, December 3, 2010
Spiritual Energy: 'Righteousness Ch'i' from True Understanding
When we cultivate the understanding of the superior person, we can observe the outside change with detachment. The comings and goings of outside change are just ripples on the surface of a spiritual ocean. When we can achieve this sort of spiritual objectivity we can see the world as it is, without being swayed by desire for pleasure or aversion to pain. It is then that we can feel the wind of the one ch’i blow through this world. From this perspective we can feel free and confident to do what we must do, to practice 'i', righteousness, without attaching to the results, achieving a spiritual energy that Mencius called 'righteousness ch'i'. Our Heaven’s destiny, our frame, is the field of our action. When we take what we cannot or should not change as fate and act on what can or should transform as our destiny, we need not be perturbed by the comings and goings of change. When we can clear away attachments and live accumulating 'righteousness ch'i', accomplishing our daily work, returning to our true life. We can continuously let go of all the aspects of life that we should not use and remain loyal to our destiny. We can let outside people and things go their own way, so that they will naturally move with the changes, moving towards what they are drawn towards without our obstructing them, moving towards what they have attracted into their own lives, leaving them freer, as well as ourselves. Superior people do this by allowing unwholesome influences to pass and moving closer to the good. This way they keep to the constancy of their true path.
Everyday people are coming and going, crossing paths. People are on the move. Different paths, different influences, different desires cross and re-cross each other. Superior people simply return their minds to the root of the principle of change, 'the same source' that is the origin of all paths. Superior people follow the simple and easy, concentrating on their own path as the Way to bring about transformation. When we understand the principle of change and our position in it, then we will understand the value of practicing virtue, as superior people to deal with change.
Everyday people are coming and going, crossing paths. People are on the move. Different paths, different influences, different desires cross and re-cross each other. Superior people simply return their minds to the root of the principle of change, 'the same source' that is the origin of all paths. Superior people follow the simple and easy, concentrating on their own path as the Way to bring about transformation. When we understand the principle of change and our position in it, then we will understand the value of practicing virtue, as superior people to deal with change.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Adding blog to 'Technocrati'
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this post is just to add a code that will allow this blog to included in a blog search engine 'Technocrati' KJ65NZK9B3VB
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Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Heaven's Destiny, or 'Ming': 'Spiritualizing' Daily Life
Just as superior people see the spiritual in the world, we should see Heaven working in our destiny, the principle of change unfolding to spiritualize our lives. Our Heaven’s destiny is what is set before us in our true life. Returning to reality, we can instead observe the principle working in our daily life, the work of the spiritual in our position, destiny in our responsibilities. We can meet what is around us and respond well, respond in harmony. We can contemplate the metaphysical in and around us and act in the phenomenal. Repeating this over and over again we gradually 'go up.' When Heaven dictates the time, we can move up in our position accordingly. Avoiding deviation, avoiding exhaustion, takes a cautious mind. With caution we can avoid going to extremes. When we return to this true life we return our consciousness to our immediate surrounding and our immediate self. In this way our lives, our immediate surroundings and our immediate selves, through investigation, become spiritualized. This investigation, this observation, this proper contemplation, emphasizing our Heaven’s destiny, shows the Way of the superior person in our life.
This constant Way, in and through life, is true life. It is the easiest and the simplest. It is continuing the source, the life-giving principle. Each thing manifests this source in the phenomenal. All things grow through change enlarging the Way into new directions and new times bringing true life into being.
The philosophy of Confucius as outlined in his commentaries on the principle of change, the Ta Chuan, emphasizes following our position and manifesting the Way of Heaven. In this way we maximize our potential for transformative work by using our energy to enliven and spiritualize our unique opportunities, our unique responsibilities, our unique time and space. When we accept our position and cultivate it we follow the principles of change and the principle of our true life. Through observing our position, we deepen our understanding. Through studying the principle of change we are always moving up in our knowledge. Through moving up in our understanding and knowledge our position becomes more and more enriched.
This constant Way, in and through life, is true life. It is the easiest and the simplest. It is continuing the source, the life-giving principle. Each thing manifests this source in the phenomenal. All things grow through change enlarging the Way into new directions and new times bringing true life into being.
The philosophy of Confucius as outlined in his commentaries on the principle of change, the Ta Chuan, emphasizes following our position and manifesting the Way of Heaven. In this way we maximize our potential for transformative work by using our energy to enliven and spiritualize our unique opportunities, our unique responsibilities, our unique time and space. When we accept our position and cultivate it we follow the principles of change and the principle of our true life. Through observing our position, we deepen our understanding. Through studying the principle of change we are always moving up in our knowledge. Through moving up in our understanding and knowledge our position becomes more and more enriched.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Understanding Change: Heaven, Earth and the Cultivation of Virtue
Just like an on and off switch that can control the complexities of electricity, so too can the practices of sincerity and humility deal with the complexities of life's changes. (Yi Wu, Book of Changes and Virtues,1998) Sincerity is the virtue of yang energy, Heavenly energy. The moving, Heavenly, metaphysical, subtle, sincere, the easy, the transformative, the bright, the spiritual, the vast, Heaven gives life to all things. Humility is the virtue of Earth energy. The resting, Earthly, phenomenal, accomplished, humble, simple, changing, dark, physical, specific aspect of change, Earth; these give shape and substance to all things. The Book of Changes. or the I Ching, outlines the movement of yang and yin change. Studying the principles of yin and yang change and observing the principle at work all around us allows us to deepen our insight into the subtleties of any situation. Observing these changes around us means remaining aware of, attentive to, open to, flexible with the movement of change through the phenomenal world.
Observation is the key to experiencing these two principles and their dynamic interaction. The better we learn how these two principles complement and harmonize each other through observation, the better able to use, practice and cultivate them we will become. When we see their timely response around us, we can imitate and emulate them.
In some situations we should use soft, indirect methods. In others we should be firm and direct. One example from Chinese Philosophy is ‘making our mind easy’, in which we need to stop and use non-action, ‘before speaking’, which is a form of acting, moving outward: In this case speaking the active, the sincere, the yang energy is only done well after cultivating in a yin way, stopping waiting settling, through non action. So in this example we can see yin and yang complementing each other. Superior people use these methods, these principles appropriately, according to the time and according to their position.
Superior people work to emulate Heaven, in its giving of life to the various positions. They observe the Way of Heaven, its virtue of giving life, and they bring it to their own position. They use gentle methods to open the Way for life to enter into all positions. Superior people observe the metaphysical at work in the phenomenal as they observe movement and rest, the original and the end, the changes, the subtle beginnings, the spiritual and the transformative, and learn to have true understanding. This understanding informs their experience, enriches their lives and inspires timely action. Through observation they catch deeper and more subtle beginnings. As they learn the principle of change they become better able to respond appropriately thus restoring and continuing the originally good, harmonious principle. They work to remove obstructions and become adept at opening the Way for this harmony to continue far into the future. Superior people observe, and then return to themselves, return to the original, to the source and connect with Heaven. They work to open the Way of Heaven in the world, spiritualizing and transforming all things.
Superior people continuously return, reevaluate, and reexamine, themselves. They constantly rejuvenate their connection to the Way to avoid deviation and continue their work. Through practicing their own proper way superior people harmoniously benefit all things. They observe the phenomenal to understand and enlarge the Way for the metaphysical. Through observation and investigation superior people can see the pattern of the Earth. In one example, we can understand the pattern of the Earth in the seasons. Everything comes out of winter into new life, working producing, moving at a greater and greater rate expanding into the peak of summer before returning again, slowing down and resting in the stillness of winter. We too need this rest, this stillness. We need to allow the old to fall away, to return to simplicity and contemplate the source of life before going out and gradually expanding again. Superior people are able to empty their thoughts. They decrease thought and decrease action, returning to the space ‘beyond thought’ and ‘beyond action’, allowing the original source to arise into prominence in their consciousness. In this way they contemplate the original, the oneness that permeates all things. Once they return to this principle superior people can again observe it in all forms with a purer perception. Emptying their minds, emptying their perceptions, they return to the source and open their view of the spiritual in the world, in all forms, as well.
Observation is the key to experiencing these two principles and their dynamic interaction. The better we learn how these two principles complement and harmonize each other through observation, the better able to use, practice and cultivate them we will become. When we see their timely response around us, we can imitate and emulate them.
In some situations we should use soft, indirect methods. In others we should be firm and direct. One example from Chinese Philosophy is ‘making our mind easy’, in which we need to stop and use non-action, ‘before speaking’, which is a form of acting, moving outward: In this case speaking the active, the sincere, the yang energy is only done well after cultivating in a yin way, stopping waiting settling, through non action. So in this example we can see yin and yang complementing each other. Superior people use these methods, these principles appropriately, according to the time and according to their position.
Superior people work to emulate Heaven, in its giving of life to the various positions. They observe the Way of Heaven, its virtue of giving life, and they bring it to their own position. They use gentle methods to open the Way for life to enter into all positions. Superior people observe the metaphysical at work in the phenomenal as they observe movement and rest, the original and the end, the changes, the subtle beginnings, the spiritual and the transformative, and learn to have true understanding. This understanding informs their experience, enriches their lives and inspires timely action. Through observation they catch deeper and more subtle beginnings. As they learn the principle of change they become better able to respond appropriately thus restoring and continuing the originally good, harmonious principle. They work to remove obstructions and become adept at opening the Way for this harmony to continue far into the future. Superior people observe, and then return to themselves, return to the original, to the source and connect with Heaven. They work to open the Way of Heaven in the world, spiritualizing and transforming all things.
Superior people continuously return, reevaluate, and reexamine, themselves. They constantly rejuvenate their connection to the Way to avoid deviation and continue their work. Through practicing their own proper way superior people harmoniously benefit all things. They observe the phenomenal to understand and enlarge the Way for the metaphysical. Through observation and investigation superior people can see the pattern of the Earth. In one example, we can understand the pattern of the Earth in the seasons. Everything comes out of winter into new life, working producing, moving at a greater and greater rate expanding into the peak of summer before returning again, slowing down and resting in the stillness of winter. We too need this rest, this stillness. We need to allow the old to fall away, to return to simplicity and contemplate the source of life before going out and gradually expanding again. Superior people are able to empty their thoughts. They decrease thought and decrease action, returning to the space ‘beyond thought’ and ‘beyond action’, allowing the original source to arise into prominence in their consciousness. In this way they contemplate the original, the oneness that permeates all things. Once they return to this principle superior people can again observe it in all forms with a purer perception. Emptying their minds, emptying their perceptions, they return to the source and open their view of the spiritual in the world, in all forms, as well.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Beyond Karma and Rebirth: Humanity and 'Heaven's Destiny'
The practice of restricting one's attention from the various outer forms of change, karma, and instead orienting oneself to the unchanging self in its immediate relations reveals this our immediate circumstance as our Ming , or Heaven's Destiny. Instead of being filled with the desire of manipulating outside change one begins the process of contentment. One learns to be content in any situation because one has a sense of inner value. One has a sense of inner worth and a sense of the value of one's actions. When restriction becomes habitual, normal, the scholar will begin to see any situation in its potential for harmony. This scholar will strain and fight to escape in an attempt to leap out from propriety. Instead the scholar will seek to gain a true understanding of his/ her situation, learning about the relation of the situation to the true self. What was formerly seen as a field for benefiting selfish desire, as the so called inferior person would, is now seen as a field for establishing harmony, practicing virtue and right action, as the superior person. This virtue is action from seeing reality from the true mind. This is the antithesis of the desire mind that misses reality seeing only the development of changing desires.
If we focus on the unchanging true nature that each of us possess, that can be accessed at any given moment, that illuminates desire as illusory then we can be infinitely encouraged. This is part of why Confucius emphasized humanity. Through the cultivation of humanity, propriety, and filial piety, Confucius shows us that we each can learn the significance of our own position, our "Ming". Confucius did not emphasize nearly impossible tasks that only recluses and hermits could achieve, but the simple cultivation of our most common daily relationships. Through the practice of restriction, or restraint, we can begin to see the vast wisdom in the simplicity of Confucian philosophy. Through restriction we begin to see the importance of our daily affairs and relations. Confucius, and subsequently much of Chinese philosophy, has helped illuminate the simple and clear way to live successfully within change. This way is to practice our philosophy in the field that will never change; the field of humanity, of our social relationships, and of our daily affairs. The cultivation of understanding the unchanging will allow us to face any change. If we restrain the desire that seeks to manipulate change, seeking a better "rebirth", and instead attempt to harmonize with change through propriety, we can transcend change, and time. The unique unchanging quality of humanity will become the foundation from which we can better understand the changes around us. Restriction that allows us to focus on our own action, or non-action, in our immediate life can allow us the spiritual energy to deepen our understanding of our relationship to the unchanging within and around us.
The repetition of restriction gradually illumines manifestations of our relationship to ourselves. As we end the pursuit of desire, we return to our immediate life. As we cease giving energy to manipulating outer change, we have excess energy to see our daily lives with clarity. The force of karma is the force of repetition. If we continue to seek outer change, without a deeper understanding of the forces which most directly influence us, we will repeatedly suffer the same mistakes and misfortunes. When we begin to seek within our own orientation toward our own actions we can "rectify our minds" and avoid these mistakes, avoid the repetition of misfortune. It is in this sense the outer force of karma is totally is illusory, because the force that we must understand for deep transformation, true change, is our relationship to ourselves.
If we focus on the unchanging true nature that each of us possess, that can be accessed at any given moment, that illuminates desire as illusory then we can be infinitely encouraged. This is part of why Confucius emphasized humanity. Through the cultivation of humanity, propriety, and filial piety, Confucius shows us that we each can learn the significance of our own position, our "Ming". Confucius did not emphasize nearly impossible tasks that only recluses and hermits could achieve, but the simple cultivation of our most common daily relationships. Through the practice of restriction, or restraint, we can begin to see the vast wisdom in the simplicity of Confucian philosophy. Through restriction we begin to see the importance of our daily affairs and relations. Confucius, and subsequently much of Chinese philosophy, has helped illuminate the simple and clear way to live successfully within change. This way is to practice our philosophy in the field that will never change; the field of humanity, of our social relationships, and of our daily affairs. The cultivation of understanding the unchanging will allow us to face any change. If we restrain the desire that seeks to manipulate change, seeking a better "rebirth", and instead attempt to harmonize with change through propriety, we can transcend change, and time. The unique unchanging quality of humanity will become the foundation from which we can better understand the changes around us. Restriction that allows us to focus on our own action, or non-action, in our immediate life can allow us the spiritual energy to deepen our understanding of our relationship to the unchanging within and around us.
The repetition of restriction gradually illumines manifestations of our relationship to ourselves. As we end the pursuit of desire, we return to our immediate life. As we cease giving energy to manipulating outer change, we have excess energy to see our daily lives with clarity. The force of karma is the force of repetition. If we continue to seek outer change, without a deeper understanding of the forces which most directly influence us, we will repeatedly suffer the same mistakes and misfortunes. When we begin to seek within our own orientation toward our own actions we can "rectify our minds" and avoid these mistakes, avoid the repetition of misfortune. It is in this sense the outer force of karma is totally is illusory, because the force that we must understand for deep transformation, true change, is our relationship to ourselves.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Beyond Karma and Rebirth: Action, Non-Action and Transcendence
As in the I Ching, or Book of Changes, yin and yang, action and non-action are the two keys to unlock the significance of daily life. Just like an on-off switch can control something as complicated as electricity, so do action and non-action, movement and rest allow us to respond properly to life's change. (Yi Wu, I Ching: Book of Changes and Virtues, 1998) In each instance the understanding the transcendant source is what is important. As long as we choose to either act in sincerity or receive in humility appropriately, without desire, without preconceptions, we stay true to this source. In each case, moving or resting, outside change, the surface, karma, is most important as seen in relation to the transcendent source. If we do not return to the source then we again delude ourselves in the surface world of karma. Here we see again that it is not the surface world of change and interaction that is important but it is honoring the source within ourselves and other people. As long as we concern ourselves with the thin veil of outer change, as opposed to the infinite world of the source within ourselves and within others, we live in the illusory, disconnected world of karma. So when we act, we do so from deep sincerity, creating in the receptive world. When we practice non-action we do so with complete humility, allowing all the creative influence of outside objects to perform their deeds without obstructing them. In each case the surface world is not the important thing. It is desirelessness, true self, true nature as manifest through sincerity and humility, which is the primary concern. It is this true self with which the true scholar is concerned. It is this true self manifest as we cultivate to become a Sage within our inner world, and King without in the outer world that is significant. The superior person remains with this deeper unchanging self in every circumstance.
Thus we see in the Hua-yen, T'ien-tai, and Ch'an Schools of Buddhism the one truth, the one mind, and the inside nature as the highest level of learning. This infinite unity, the underneath, is the inside nature of all things. Thus understanding of the unchanging is to gain a transcendent perspective on change, or Karma. This is a perspective from which we can see more clearly our responsibility and our unique role in this life. One thought can lead to 3,000 worlds. The scholar must seek the way to non-thought and embody non-thought in this life in order to reach the one transcendent thought. Grounding ourselves upon and returning to the one transcendent thought, we can know the essence of 3,000 worlds. If the True scholar trains his/herself in this way then he/she has the unchanging key to understand and respond to the changing world before him/her. This scholar can become timeless. This scholar understands the essence of his/her life, the change around him/her and his/her responsibility.
Thus we see in the Hua-yen, T'ien-tai, and Ch'an Schools of Buddhism the one truth, the one mind, and the inside nature as the highest level of learning. This infinite unity, the underneath, is the inside nature of all things. Thus understanding of the unchanging is to gain a transcendent perspective on change, or Karma. This is a perspective from which we can see more clearly our responsibility and our unique role in this life. One thought can lead to 3,000 worlds. The scholar must seek the way to non-thought and embody non-thought in this life in order to reach the one transcendent thought. Grounding ourselves upon and returning to the one transcendent thought, we can know the essence of 3,000 worlds. If the True scholar trains his/herself in this way then he/she has the unchanging key to understand and respond to the changing world before him/her. This scholar can become timeless. This scholar understands the essence of his/her life, the change around him/her and his/her responsibility.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Beyond Karma and Rebirth: True Life and True Understanding
True life comes from a desire free orientation toward one’s surroundings and one’s resources. This is a free life. It seems that in many of the classics of Chinese philosophy there is an emphasis placed on the joyous description of the individual in the highest sense, living a life free from desire, beyond Karma. The I Ching, is such a useful, timeless resource because it resonates with the highest good in humanity, the unchanging to deal with change. When we are not deluded by desire for change, we can feel our heaven’s destiny in fulfilling our position/propriety.
Restriction in danger allows us to slowly return to a simple life. Through this restriction, this acting by not acting, we can settle our lives like the murky waters that settle in the Lao Tzu. Desires show themselves as the mere phantoms that they are, powerless to influence our True Life. By repeating restriction after restriction, desires arise, are made evident and fall away without creating Karma. As desire arises, we practice restriction, not following the desire, and it passes away. We can see that our True Life is immediately available and infinitely vast in comparison with narrow desire.
Our True Life, or Heavenly Life as it is called in Confucianism is a vast, deep and significant life based on simplicity; humanity, propriety and filial piety. This emphasis of our immediate life as being important in a set of relationships, and our individual cultivation being important only in regard to its right orientation to these relationships. Both Buddha and Confucius emphasized the potential greatness of humanity and refrained from discussing superstitious or confusing topics. Each person's immediate position, for Confucius, is a unique opportunity to make the Tao great. The cultivation of this heavenly mandate so absorbed Confucius that he felt other irrelevant topics were not even worth touching upon. It is ironic that the same wish to avoid complicating matters was ascribed to Sakyamuni in his original teaching, as in the story of the poisoned arrow. Sakyamuni described one who was injured by a poison arrow asking the healer all sorts of questions about the origin of the medicine, the technique for removal, the history of the physician before they began the healing and thus allow the poison to spread as being analogous to one who engages in limitless metaphysical speculation while neglecting the root of suffering. So while the founder of Buddhism, as did Confucius, refrained from talking about subjects of death and the after life, using the analogy of the poisoned arrow, the subsequent religion became defined, by some, as relating to karma and rebirth. Buddha sought to heal suffering and return humanity to its natural, harmonious way.
The simple, natural way, in humanity and in all life has always existed transcending the ebb and flow of empires and societal fads. To be able to continue in harmony with our surroundings regardless to superficial change is the focus of Chinese philosophy.
This is the perspective from which the I Ching discusses change. This is the perspective which the scholar of philosophy should cultivate gradually. This infinitely useful topic relates directly to everything, every change, and has always existed both in ourselves and in the cosmos; however it remains useless unless it is applied to the field of human affairs. This is the truth that Confucius understood in his emphasis on humanity. If humanity 'makes Tao great' then we must do everything for the furthering of humanity. The true scholar should recognizes change as the appearance of a surface upon a vast ocean. The surface still consists of the ocean’s water it is not separate. Thus the individual scholar becomes interested in the surface life only in its relationship to the vast ocean. Thus the scholar understands the surface life not in terms of karma and rebirth but only in terms of acting and not acting for the sake of enlarging of the Tao, the cultivation of harmony. His/her only concern is the potential for enlarging the Way for people to pass through to conscious relations with the depths. The scholar of true philosophy values the practice of understanding the surface gyrations, in himself and others, for the sake of turning toward the depths of individual experience.
The most awe inspiring thing for such a scholar is that everything he/she experiences is likewise an individual with its own depth to surface understanding.
Restriction in danger allows us to slowly return to a simple life. Through this restriction, this acting by not acting, we can settle our lives like the murky waters that settle in the Lao Tzu. Desires show themselves as the mere phantoms that they are, powerless to influence our True Life. By repeating restriction after restriction, desires arise, are made evident and fall away without creating Karma. As desire arises, we practice restriction, not following the desire, and it passes away. We can see that our True Life is immediately available and infinitely vast in comparison with narrow desire.
Our True Life, or Heavenly Life as it is called in Confucianism is a vast, deep and significant life based on simplicity; humanity, propriety and filial piety. This emphasis of our immediate life as being important in a set of relationships, and our individual cultivation being important only in regard to its right orientation to these relationships. Both Buddha and Confucius emphasized the potential greatness of humanity and refrained from discussing superstitious or confusing topics. Each person's immediate position, for Confucius, is a unique opportunity to make the Tao great. The cultivation of this heavenly mandate so absorbed Confucius that he felt other irrelevant topics were not even worth touching upon. It is ironic that the same wish to avoid complicating matters was ascribed to Sakyamuni in his original teaching, as in the story of the poisoned arrow. Sakyamuni described one who was injured by a poison arrow asking the healer all sorts of questions about the origin of the medicine, the technique for removal, the history of the physician before they began the healing and thus allow the poison to spread as being analogous to one who engages in limitless metaphysical speculation while neglecting the root of suffering. So while the founder of Buddhism, as did Confucius, refrained from talking about subjects of death and the after life, using the analogy of the poisoned arrow, the subsequent religion became defined, by some, as relating to karma and rebirth. Buddha sought to heal suffering and return humanity to its natural, harmonious way.
The simple, natural way, in humanity and in all life has always existed transcending the ebb and flow of empires and societal fads. To be able to continue in harmony with our surroundings regardless to superficial change is the focus of Chinese philosophy.
This is the perspective from which the I Ching discusses change. This is the perspective which the scholar of philosophy should cultivate gradually. This infinitely useful topic relates directly to everything, every change, and has always existed both in ourselves and in the cosmos; however it remains useless unless it is applied to the field of human affairs. This is the truth that Confucius understood in his emphasis on humanity. If humanity 'makes Tao great' then we must do everything for the furthering of humanity. The true scholar should recognizes change as the appearance of a surface upon a vast ocean. The surface still consists of the ocean’s water it is not separate. Thus the individual scholar becomes interested in the surface life only in its relationship to the vast ocean. Thus the scholar understands the surface life not in terms of karma and rebirth but only in terms of acting and not acting for the sake of enlarging of the Tao, the cultivation of harmony. His/her only concern is the potential for enlarging the Way for people to pass through to conscious relations with the depths. The scholar of true philosophy values the practice of understanding the surface gyrations, in himself and others, for the sake of turning toward the depths of individual experience.
The most awe inspiring thing for such a scholar is that everything he/she experiences is likewise an individual with its own depth to surface understanding.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Beyond Karma and Rebirth
(part one of a series of 'examining karma' posts)
It is said that the only constant is change. It is also said that the nameless Tao, that Tao of which we cannot speak is the eternal or constant Tao. So, change and something unspeakable beyond the phenomenal world of change, are simultaneously the only constants. The Book of Changes, the I Ching, simplifies all the possibilities of change, so that we, the individual, the perceiver, can learn the highest truths amidst the forms of change. The technique the I Ching prescribes for dealing with danger is restriction. In our modern world, in which we have access to mountains of information about any subject, the individual is increasingly in danger of “limitless speculation”. Through restriction we can come to know those forces which are closest to us. Through restriction we can focus our attention, our field of study to our immediate daily life and our action therein. It is in this field of action where we find the vast unchanging splendor of humanity. The Confucian concept of humanity, and its central significance, is illuminated through the practice of restriction as outlined in the I Ching. There are some fundamental constants in the human life that Confucius had the great wisdom to make central in his teaching. The Book of Changes addresses change so that we may come to know our unspeakable individuality, the unchanging within. The Confucian theory of humanity as illuminated through the practice of restriction is a bridge from the world of change, or Karma, to the world of that which is highest in humanity, that which unnamable, beyond change, or rebirth. Restriction of our inquiry to the most basic aspects of daily life, that which is common to all humanity, and the relationship of our personalities toward these events, allows us to focus our energy toward reality. Gradually this process of inquiry leads us to discover that which is beyond change, beyond karma and rebirth, in our immediate reality.
Our perception of our immediate reality is often clouded. We pick out what we want to perceive in our reality based on desire. We pursue change and rebirth based on desire. In this sense karma is desire. Rebirth is desire come to fruition. Life is typically lived in pursuit of desire. We orient our senses to pick out what furthers our desires. We ignore what hinders our pursuit. As long as our desires remain just below the surface of our awareness we suffer at the mercy of unknown forces. Desire colors our reality. The wheel of karma is powered by our volitional activity, desire. We create our future without knowing it. We put our values in everything we do. We use our resources to further some idea of ourselves. After these resources have produced what we wanted, we instantly create new desires for the future. This process of projecting our resources and desires into the future, then living the rebirth, the fruit, of that past orientation to life continues without our knowing it. Simply, we mobilize all the resources in our present situation toward some distant future world, some utopian vision of ourselves. Then we achieve it. Then we look back admiring where we were. We orient ourselves to achieve a distant future utopia as soon as possible. We are aware of the potential disharmony but are so convinced of the potential bliss of our rebirth that we ignore the risk and march on in pursuit of desire. Buddhism began with Sakyamuni and his Four Noble Truths. The notion of Karma, some would say, is central in Buddhist thought. I believe Sakyamuni would say that the mechanism of Karma is desire and thus the cause of suffering. He would also say that the cycle of rebirth is the ordinary life ruled by desire. Through the gradual practice of restriction in the midst of the deepening danger of desire, the path to a true life begins when we recognize our desire and guard against it taking over our life. When we recognize that which is free from desire, true self as opposed to desire self, we can begin to live a true life...
It is said that the only constant is change. It is also said that the nameless Tao, that Tao of which we cannot speak is the eternal or constant Tao. So, change and something unspeakable beyond the phenomenal world of change, are simultaneously the only constants. The Book of Changes, the I Ching, simplifies all the possibilities of change, so that we, the individual, the perceiver, can learn the highest truths amidst the forms of change. The technique the I Ching prescribes for dealing with danger is restriction. In our modern world, in which we have access to mountains of information about any subject, the individual is increasingly in danger of “limitless speculation”. Through restriction we can come to know those forces which are closest to us. Through restriction we can focus our attention, our field of study to our immediate daily life and our action therein. It is in this field of action where we find the vast unchanging splendor of humanity. The Confucian concept of humanity, and its central significance, is illuminated through the practice of restriction as outlined in the I Ching. There are some fundamental constants in the human life that Confucius had the great wisdom to make central in his teaching. The Book of Changes addresses change so that we may come to know our unspeakable individuality, the unchanging within. The Confucian theory of humanity as illuminated through the practice of restriction is a bridge from the world of change, or Karma, to the world of that which is highest in humanity, that which unnamable, beyond change, or rebirth. Restriction of our inquiry to the most basic aspects of daily life, that which is common to all humanity, and the relationship of our personalities toward these events, allows us to focus our energy toward reality. Gradually this process of inquiry leads us to discover that which is beyond change, beyond karma and rebirth, in our immediate reality.
Our perception of our immediate reality is often clouded. We pick out what we want to perceive in our reality based on desire. We pursue change and rebirth based on desire. In this sense karma is desire. Rebirth is desire come to fruition. Life is typically lived in pursuit of desire. We orient our senses to pick out what furthers our desires. We ignore what hinders our pursuit. As long as our desires remain just below the surface of our awareness we suffer at the mercy of unknown forces. Desire colors our reality. The wheel of karma is powered by our volitional activity, desire. We create our future without knowing it. We put our values in everything we do. We use our resources to further some idea of ourselves. After these resources have produced what we wanted, we instantly create new desires for the future. This process of projecting our resources and desires into the future, then living the rebirth, the fruit, of that past orientation to life continues without our knowing it. Simply, we mobilize all the resources in our present situation toward some distant future world, some utopian vision of ourselves. Then we achieve it. Then we look back admiring where we were. We orient ourselves to achieve a distant future utopia as soon as possible. We are aware of the potential disharmony but are so convinced of the potential bliss of our rebirth that we ignore the risk and march on in pursuit of desire. Buddhism began with Sakyamuni and his Four Noble Truths. The notion of Karma, some would say, is central in Buddhist thought. I believe Sakyamuni would say that the mechanism of Karma is desire and thus the cause of suffering. He would also say that the cycle of rebirth is the ordinary life ruled by desire. Through the gradual practice of restriction in the midst of the deepening danger of desire, the path to a true life begins when we recognize our desire and guard against it taking over our life. When we recognize that which is free from desire, true self as opposed to desire self, we can begin to live a true life...
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