The reports of the devastation in Burma this past week have been heart-rending; the scale of human suffering is incomprehensible to me.

It is one thing to accept this disaster — even on such a massive scale — as being in line with our precarious position on this planet. What is less easy to accept is the intransigent behavior of the Burmese military government in response to the natural catastrophe. One would think that even the junta could recognize the plight of the Burmese people, yet the government’s distrust of outsiders is deeply entrenched, and the magnitude of the disaster will be exponentially exacerbated by human ignorance.

Anger is a natural response to this situation, and not altogether unwarranted. However, looking deeply, can we also find space in our own hearts for lovingkindness and compassion for all people of Burma, including the junta? After all, if the generals were indeed peaceful, secure, happy and at ease, would they be so fearful of outsiders? If they were not so fearful of outsiders, wouldn’t much needed aid actually reach the people who so desperately need it?

It’s tempting to try to get into the heads of the generals — to draw some sort of psychological connection between their desperate and selfish clinging to political power and their fear of anyone beyond their narrow circle of confidants — but to do so is to be distracted from the larger picture. One can only hope that the generals will come to their senses and allow foreign aid workers to help in enough time to stave off the disaster beyond disaster that looms ahead.

Since I started reading more about Buddhism and practicing meditation in the last 2 years, I’ve wondered about the nature of ‘enlightenment’ and ‘awakening’.  Is it something rare?  esoteric?  available? sudden? gradual?   Am I getting closer?  Am I making progress?  Can it happen to me in this body, in this lifetime?  Are my teachers ‘enlightened’?  Are some more enlightened than others?

   The old stories feature a lot of sudden, abrupt,  what I call ‘light-switch’ awakenings, where suddenly the practitioner ‘gets’ it.   More modern teachers that I’ve heard, talk about each moment of remembering, or returning your concentration to the  breath or other object of concentration as a small awakening.  Which is it, I’ve wondered…

   When I’ve asked, the answer has always been — both — not the answer I was looking for.   Now I’ve found an analogy that helps that answer make more sense to me.  The analogy  is a 3-D picture — you remember — those blobby pictures that were around a few years ago, that if you stared at long enough, and in the right way — suddenly revealed themselves to be images with a very 3-D quality to them.  So — to the analogy part –

   -some people see the hidden images easily, some have more difficulty
   -you have to relax to see the image, not strain, or squint
   -in my experience, most people can see it if they keep at it
   -you can’t see it by looking closely
   -seeing a picture  or hearing a description of what you’re supposed to see doesn’t help very much
   -you sometimes get a glimpse before you ‘get’ the full image
   -some people aren’t very interested and give up right away
   -it’s very clear when you see it — the seeing is unambiguous
   -the seeing is a sudden shift
   -once you’ve seen the hidden picture, you can see it more easily the 2nd and 3rd time
   -you can see them more easily with practice
   -there are lots of pictures to see with the shifted vision

Curious?   Try it out at this website — it’s fun!

http://www.magiceye.com

May you too take refuge in the Earth and give back to it all that it has given you and more. We owe it homage. We owe it reparations.  We owe it humble gratitude. With hands held together in Gasho, I bow to Earth. And from the depths of my being, I shout Oh!, the ancient Miwok expression of approval.

– Stephen Altschuler, from his Mindful Hiker newsletter, April 23, 2008.

I found this speech by neurologist Jill Bolte Taylor moving — it’s about 20 minutes.  It’s an account of her stroke after which she lost left brain function for a while — sounds dry — but it’s gripping, and speaks so directly to me about why I meditate. And why it matters, and how it relates to peace in the world.
 
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229

The topic came up in the meditation group the other night, and it was requested that I try to dig up the phrases for the “other” Brahma-Viharas: compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita), and equanimity (upekkha).

It did take some poking around via Google, but I finally did find the phrases more or less as I remember Abhaya once introducing them to us:

For compassion:
“May [I/you] be free from [my/your] pain and sorrow; may [I/you] find peace.”

For sympathetic joy:
“May your happiness and good fortune continue; may it always be so.”

For equanimity:
“All beings are the owners of their karma. Their happiness and unhappiness depends upon their actions, not upon my wishes for them.”

The webpage on which I found this information offers some alternative phrasing, as well as suggestions of where to begin (e.g., compassion for one who is suffering; sympathetic joy for a friend or loved one; equanimity for a neutral person). As with metta practice, the idea seems to be to follow the path of least resistance. You also want to find words that not only capture the intended feeling but also resonate personally.

The page also has a lot of interesting information on metta practice, too. While each of the Brahma-Viharas supports the others, metta remains the foundation.

There is plenty of good material available if anyone is interested in learning more, including this article on ”The Four Sublime States” by Nyanaponika Threa (via Access to Insight).

So much has been written recently over the turmoil surrounding the Olympic torch relay, China’s human rights record (or lack thereof), and the ongoing situation in Tibet. It’s not at all surprising to me to see how quickly long-simmering tensions have boiled over into open conflict, especially between Tibetans (both inside and outside their homeland) and the Chinese.

The frustration of the Tibetans is certainly understandable; their homeland has been occupied by the China for half a century, and their culture is truly on the brink of annihilation at the hands of hundreds of thousands of Han Chinese immigrants seeking better lives on the western frontier. Indeed, one may compare the Chinese expansion into Tibet and Xinjiang to the United States’ own westward expansion during the 19th century. In each case an indigenous population has seen its traditional way of life decimated by an unstoppable outside force in the name of progress and civilization.

However Tibetans by-and-large have not reaped the benefits promised by the Chinese, and their fear and frustration is understandable — even if I, as I sit here in a comfortablly climate-controlled office in Boston, can never truly understand the full extent of their suffering.

Even Tibetans’ frustration with the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way” policy regarding China is understandable. Many are of a younger generation who grew up outside Tibet and have not even seen their homeland. Their pride, fear, and frustration, with the perceived policy of appeasement, of inaction, is understandable. The instinct to fight back is strong, despite the insurmountable odds. In my own view, I think the Dalai Lama’s stance is truly the only way if any vestige of Tibetan culture is to survive over the long-term. The Middle Way may not be sexy, but it is clearly the most practical approach — not to mention in keeping with the Buddhist teachings of nonviolence. Yet there are those who calf for outright rebellion against the Chinese army, even if this would amount to suicide for the Tibetan people. I think this speaks volumes for how much the Tibetan psyche has already been damaged.

Meanwhile the Chinese also feel besieged by the larger world community. While many within China can be forgiven their misperceptions due to constant bombardment by government propaganda — including the ridiculous caricatures of the Dalai Lama as a “terrorist” or “wolf in monk’s clothing” — the reaction of Chinese overseas, who have freer access to Western media, suggests injured national pride and disgust with the hypocrisy of the West. If we reflect on legacy of European colonialism and the history of our nation’s own westward expansion, perhaps we can appreciate the Chinese point of view even as we disagree with the policies of their government.

‘He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed me’ — for those who brood on this, hostility isn’t stilled.

‘He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed me’ — for those who don’t brood on this, hostility is stilled.

Hostilities aren’t stilled through hostility, regardless. Hostilities are stilled through non-hostility: this, an unending truth.

Unlike those who don’t realize that we’re here on the verge of perishing, those who do: their quarrels are stilled.

Carrie and I spent a fine spring day on retreat at the Insight Meditation Center of Newburyport yesterday. Technically in West Newbury, IMCN is located in some beautiful countryside, although it’s only about an hour’s drive from Lowell. 

In fact, we almost had a private retreat, as we were joined for each of the morning and afternoon sessions by only one other yogi. IMCN is situated in an old, rambling farmhouse, so it felt a bit like being on retreat in someone’s home (which it is, in part) — comfortable, but without all the distractions of actually being at home.

The guiding teacher, Matthew Daniell, has an extensive background in meditation, in both the Japanese Zen and Thai traditions. A student of Larry Rosenberg at CIMC, Matthew is currently furthering his teacher training under the mentorship of Jack Kornfield.

As with most retreats, the morning was spent alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation. Matthew is also a trained yoga instructor, and so he usually includes some period of yoga or body work, however a recent injury precluded that yesterday.

The afternoon program was much the same, albeit with a slight change in instruction. Whereas in the morning we had been encouraged to really focus on paying attention to the breath, in the afternoon we were encouraged to practice with a more “open awareness.” (We also had a brief period of standing/reclining meditation after lunch, just to keep the body/mind fresh!)

Matthew actually gave his dharma talk/Q&A period in the middle of the afternoon session. Being Earth Day weekend, his talk was about the relationship between “outer global warming” and the “inner global warming” of greed, hatred, and ignorance (traditionally known at the Three Fires, I might add). Good stuff, again bringing home the point that even individual practice has much larger ramifications.

There was another Q&A period after the retreat officially ended, and Matthew was very helpful in clarifying a point of confusion for me. We then had a chance to chat informally over a cup of tea before we had to hit the road.
Small world story: Matthew is originally from New Hampshire, and his mother actually knows and sits with Doreen Schweizer up at Valley Insight!

Anyhow, Carrie and I are of the consensus that IMCN is a wonderful place to take a day-long retreat. This would be a great opportunity for anyone thinking about going on a longer retreat (e.g., at IMS or Spirit Rock), but either unable to because of time or money, or interested in testing the waters first. At $50 for the day, it’s a pretty good deal.

IMCN offers weekend day-long retreats about twice a month, and half-day retreats on Tuesday mornings. (One can also attend only the morning session of the a weekend day-long.) Carrie and I thought we’d see if there is enough interest to have a bunch of us carpool up there some weekend. In particular, Chas DiCapua (teacher-in-residence at IMS) will lead a day-long retreat on Saturday, May 31, on “the six sense doors”:

The six-sense doors include the five senses: hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, and the  mind (through which we perceive and filter experience). Learning to pay close attention in the present moment as to how we actually experience life through the senses can help us to live from a place of greater awareness, responsiveness, and ease. Traditional Buddhist teachings, as well as Jon Kabat-Zinn’s book “Coming to Our Senses”, will be supports for our inquiry. Some meditation experience preferred.

IMCN is not a huge place, so Matthew would probably appreciate some advanced warning if a good number of us plan on showing up. I’ll say more about this in this week’s e-mail….

I went to see Thanissaro Bhikkhu at CIMC in Cambridge last Wednesday with some trepidation.  As Tim said, he is a scholar monk, and I’ve found some of his writing a little dense — but he’s visiting from the west coast.  It seemed like an opportunity, so I went.

  I was pleasantly surprised. Ajahn Geoff (as he was introduced) was warm and sweet, and funny!  He had a wonderful deep and soothing voice and presence.  And spoke very simply on the subject of ‘Becoming’ — ‘Maha’ in Pali. So even though he is grounded in a deep study of Pali (and Thai for translating the teachings of Ajahn Chah and his teacher Ajahn Lee Dhammadaro and others), when he was speaking to us, he was speaking of quite ordinary struggles of practice.  He had the same kind of quiet luminosity in his face that I saw in Larry Rosenberg.   He talked about clinging being part of the path.  That it’s not bad to cling to good habits, and to blissful experiences you may have along the path — because it motivates us to stay on the path.  In the end, he said, even that clinging just naturally lets go, but it is a not a bad part of the path. 

  Just a side note. ‘Maha’ is sometimes translated as Existence. As I’m writing this, I’m wondering if that’s related to the name of the Cambodian monk Maha Ghosananda, who died last year in Massachusetts.

  So there you go — things are often not what you expect.  I was expecting an ‘eat-your-peas’ kind of dharma talk  — I’m not sure why — I don’t think I’ve ever heard a dharma talk I would call an eat-your-peas kind of dharma talk!   But instead I heard a great talk by a great teacher.  I’ll never read his writing or translations the same way again….

We need to serve both the I and the WE. We serve the I when we place ourselves in situations that force us to grow. We serve the WE when we view life from other people’s perspectives, step into other people’s shoes, and learn to be more compassionate human beings. By flexing these muscles, we get closer to becoming the shining diamond we have been placed on this earth to become.

— Andrea Adler, The Science of Spiritual Marketing: Initiation into Magnetism (as seen on Spirituality and Health website)

The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.
– Carl Jung 
[Source: UUA Advocacy News, Feb. 12, 2008]