The World is on Fire!

Seven, Amber Dorrian, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly translation, The Fire Sermon (SN 35.28)

Calm, cool, and collected, the Buddha at Ayutthaya,Thailand (Perstephone/flickr.com)

  

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

("Fire and Ice," Robert Frost)

"self" immolates (xfilledwithdoubt-)

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Buddha was living in Gaya, on Gaya Hill, together with a thousand ascetics. There he addressed them.

"Meditators, ALL is burning! What 'all' is burning?

"The eye is burning, forms [seen by the eye] are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, and whatever is felt as either pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with eye-contact as supporting condition, that too is burning!
 

But I'm not burning, right? (Megan Fox/ArticMonkeyss/tumblr.com)

 
"Burning with what? Burning with the fire of craving [lust, greed, selfishness], with the fire of aversion [fear, hate, revulsion], with the fire of delusion [wrong view, ignorance, illusion].

"I say it is burning with rebirth, aging, and death, with sorrow, weeping, pain, grief, and despair.

"The ear is burning, sounds [heard by the ear] are burning... The nose is burning, odors [sensed by the nose] are burning... The tongue is burning, flavors [savored by the tongue] are burning... The body is burning, tangibles [felt by the body] are burning...

"The mind is burning, ideas are burning, mind-consciousness is burning, mind-contact is burning, and whatever is felt either as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with mind-contact as supporting condition, that too is burning!

"Burning with what? Burning with the fire of craving, with the fire of aversion, with the fire of delusion. I say it is burning with rebirth, aging, and death, with sorrow, weeping, pain, grief, and despair.

 

The world is on fire -- the whole world known through the senses (winds-of-desolation).

 
"Meditators, when a noble follower who has heard (the Dharma) sees this, one becomes estranged [alienated and indifferent] regarding the eye, regarding forms, regarding eye-consciousness, regarding eye-contact, and whatever is felt as either pleasant or painful or neither-painful- nor-pleasant that arises with eye-contact as supporting condition. With regard to all of these, one becomes estranged.
 

Cool (Rzoont/flickr.com)

"One becomes estranged regarding the ear... sounds... One becomes estranged regarding the nose... odors... One becomes estranged regarding the tongue... flavors... One becomes estranged regarding the body... tangibles...

"One becomes estranged regarding the mind, regarding ideas, regarding mind-consciousness, regarding mind-contact, and whatever is felt as either pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with mind-contact as supporting indispensable condition. With regard to all of these, one becomes estranged.

"When one becomes estranged (alienated, disaffected, indifferent), passion fades out. 

"With the fading of passion, one is liberated. When liberated, there comes certainty that one is liberated. 

Nirvana is extinguishing, cooling

Cooling (Rzoont/flickr.com)

"One understands that, 'Birth is exhausted, the supreme life has been lived, what can be done has been done, and there is no more [suffering] beyond.'"

That is what the Buddha said. Those gathered were glad and approved of his words.

Now during his utterance, the hearts of those thousand ascetics were liberated from the taints by abandoning clinging.

The "World"?
Ven. Nyanaponika Thera ("Karma and its Fruit")

"World" as self (weakonomics.com)

"In this fathom-long body with its perceptions and thoughts there is the world, the origin of the world, the ending of the world, and the path leading to the ending of the world" (AN 4.45).

 

The "world" of which the Buddha speaks is comprised in this aggregate [heap, collection, composite] of body-and-mind. For it is only by the activity of our physical and mental sense faculties that a world can be experienced and known at all. 

The sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and bodily impressions which we perceive, and our various mental functions, conscious and unconscious -- this is the world in which we live. 

And this world of ours has its origin in that very aggregate of physical and mental processes that produces the karmic act of craving for the six physical and mental sense objects.

[The Buddha asked:] "Ananda, if there were no karma ripening in the sphere of the senses, would there appear any sense-sphere existence?" — "Surely not, venerable sir!" (AN 3.76)

Thus karma is the womb from which we spring (kamma-yoni), the true creator of the world and of ourselves as the experiencer of "the world."

 

And through our karmic [intentional] actions in deed, word, and thought, we unceasingly engage in building and rebuilding this world and [rebirth in] worlds beyond. Even our good actions, as long as they are still under the influence of craving... More

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The Three Poisons of the Heart

Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; H. Kopp Delaney (photo)

This questionable quote is based on real aphorisms in the Dhammapada, which run:

"There is no fire like passion (greed); there is no losing throw like hatred; there is no snare like delusion; there is no happiness higher than nirvana" (sacred-texts.com).

  

Variations are due to free translations and the coupling of related passages to synthesize more inclusive quotes. Hatred is a crime, hunger is a sickness; there is no sorrow like separation; there is no joy like the joy of complete freedom -- which is nirvana (Dhp).

Minds/hearts are bound by lust (H-K-D/flickr)

One is burned by lust, by craving, by clinging, by passion. If nothing else, it blinds one from seeing the liberating-truth. Most are not looking, so we delight in the senses and dream of a heavenly rebirth with intensified senses and sensual experiences. For men in general, the Buddha declared, there is nothing more alluring than the form of a woman, and for women in general, the form of a man.

  

Of course, Buddhism admits of individual variation, but this generally holds. From time to time one may crave anything. It is craving itself that is the fire. And though one changes what one craves, if one still craves, the burning will continue. This is an internal problem not the Buddha's comment on some social (external) situation. Meditation -- both for the sake of serenity and insight -- is ruined by craving.

Aversion has many manifestations like racism

Hatred expressing itself as revenge, wrath, thoughts of harming and ill will do little to harm others compared to the harm done to oneself. One is not only harming oneself. One is harming both and everyone else as well. Indeed, hate is a losing throw, like the original meaning of "sin," which simply meant "to miss the mark." A society esteeming archery understood. Do we hate? "I don't hate!" We fail to recognize how pervasive aversion (dosa) is in our lives and how much harm it does. For most of us most of the time, aversion manifests as fear. It leads to bias just as greed does, just as delusion does.

At the root of all harm, all faults, all suffering is delusion, wrong views, ignorance, folly. (Craving is singled out as the cause of suffering because it is a weak link in the causal chain of Dependent Origination, a point at which to undo suffering, but in fact ignorance is a more fundamental root of misery).

 

The Buddha gained/ taught freedom (Evs in nz)

This being the case, the solution, the cure, the antidote to dukkha (unsatisfactoriness, woe, pain) of all kinds is enlightenment, liberating-insight, wisdom. This cure can be administered immediately with mindfulness -- bare awareness of just what is without embellishment or propagating worries about it. Right here, right now everything is fine. When we move out of presence (presence of mind, the present moment), we encounter troubles.

A more permanent solution is developing calm and collectedness (concentration of the heart/mind's innate power) then turning that purified consciousness on the development of systematic insight. The liberated heart is the highest happiness.

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Three Minds of Meditation

Seven Dharmachari and Ven. Vivekananda (Bodhi Vihara), Wisdom Quarterly

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly" - the Buddha (Cadi-cliff/flickr.com).

  

Three "minds" become evident while meditating. There is the Automatic Mind, the Choice Point (conscious awareness or adverting power), and the Peaceful Mind.

Automatic Mind is the thinking that just happens. It can hardly be stopped or slowed down sometimes. It is the source of "monkey mind" (restlessness, worry, clutter, angst, and anxiety) and awkward creativity, projections into the future, and recollections/reconstructions of the past. It is usually miserable and what we call NOT-meditating.

  

And while this may be true, it leads to meditating. 

  

Peaceful Mind is a wonderful state of serenity, a non-judgmental receptivity of perception. It is one of the preliminary goals of meditation called samatha. It purifies and intensifies the mind and is best used in the service of developing insight (vipassana). It itself, however, does not lead to insight or enlightenment, but it does lead to many other good things.

 

When people experience this state of mind, they call it "meditation." And they call the previous work that got them there not-meditating. It can also be called zen (jhana, dhyana, ch'an) if it is particularly deep and "absorbing."
  

• NOTE: Peaceful Mind should not be confused with sleep or unconsciousness. It is the exact opposite. For it is fully conscious but centered on a single object. Or it can be strong but divided among just a few objects post-absorption, as in when one is engaged in insight-practice (vipassana). Stop first, then insight.
• George Quant speaks of a Fourth State of Consciousness, one beyond sleeping (dreaming), waking, and unconsciousness. It may be referred to as a super-conscious state, a thoughtless awareness, an effortless peace (usually preceded by lots of successful effort).

How can one go from restless automatic thinking to restful peace? It is possible because in between these natural states there is a Choice Point (to borrow Sarah McLean's term). This is when our active consciousness elects to catch itself daydreaming, wandering, nodding off, or engaging in discursive thinking when we are trying to meditate. We are meditating.

 

Meditation is catching ourselves and consciously (and blamelessly) returning to the object we have chosen to sit with for a predetermined span of time. Whereas wandering is not meditating, looking out for wandering and doing something about it when it happens is being actively engaged in mediation.

This behavior eventually leads to mastery, to a very strong and well controlled Peaceful Mind, or what most everyone agrees counts as "successful meditation."

We are successful much more often than we think just for noticing and applying the antidote rather than giving the mind free rein, which it has most of the day on most days.
  

"Ordinary mind" and "beginner's mind" take on new meaning in Zen. Ordinarily, we are just wandering discursively. Beginners struggle. But after considerable practice, we return and see it with different eyes. There's nothing supernatural about Peaceful Mind. It is  our birthright; it is how we were as infants and beginners; it is our ordinary (original) mind. But beginning meditators have a hard time believing that. When we come back to it as if for the first time, as C.S. Lewis noted, we can really appreciate the work we have done and how we have evolved.

So the next time you sit and watch, be glad to catch the mind wandering away. It gives rise to the Choice Point, that mind that knows-and-sees and does something about it. It is the way to Peaceful Mind.

Bring it back gently and without shaming or scolding. That noticing and doing something about it was "meditating." And it is soon blessed with Peaceful Mind, heightened consciousness, and a new normal -- being cool, calm, and collected with no apparent effort. Then if this mental state, this Peaceful Mind, is put to the task of developing liberating-insight, one may see and touch nirvana here and now.

 
Example: Farmers in the Fields

What would you grow if you could grow anything?

A farmer works her field for months. Others laugh because nothing is seen growing there, whereas their fields naturally have useful things growing on them. Finally after months of this, the other "farmers" come to laugh and criticize the one farming fruitlessly.

They ask, "What are you doing wasting your time here?"

"Wasting my time?" the farmer asks. "I have been preparing my field, weeding it, plowing it under, fertilizing it by letting it lie fallow, fixing the soil, getting it ready for seeding. How about you? How did you prepare your field?"

"No, it just grew that way naturally. We're very good farmers because we didn't have to do anything but sit and watch it grow."

"How will y'all control it, master it, guide it to your ends? That is, how will you get it to grow what you want? How will you increase your yields with useful plants you favor and minimize plants and pests you do not want?"

"We have no idea about that," the others confessed.

"Yet you call yourselves 'farmers'?"

In just the same way, a person who struggles in meditation is actually meditating -- if s/he learns to recognized the departing mind and keeps bringing it back (without criticizing it for having departed).

Then when she or he sits down to gain Peaceful Mind, it is accessible. And when insight is desired, or when a persistent problem (e.g., one of the Five Hindrances) arises, an antidote (e.g., one of the Five Factors of Absorption) is applied to regain Peaceful Mind. This, then, is indeed a "farmer."
  
The others are just watching plants grow. And when a problem arises, they are put off their farming to go in search of a solution. They have little access to anything beyond Peaceful Mind to imperturbable peace founded on wisdom. For there is a wisdom that has gone beyond, gone beyond beyond.

When that is reached one will exclaim, "Oh, what an awakening!"

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Call for submissions (Inquiring Mind)

Fall 2011 issue of Inquiring Mind

Inquiring Mind (InquiringMind.com) has put out a call for submissions for its Spring 2013 edition. Its theme will be "Poetry and Stories." Anyone interested may send in poetry and story submissions from a Dharmic perspective. There is no need to mention the Buddha or meditation or anything else in particular. The word-limit for stories is 3,000 words. The deadline for submissions is October 1, 2012.

• Send submissions to: Spring2013@inquiringmind.com

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Future Dangers (sutra)

Wisdom Quarterly translation (Anagata Bhayani Sutras)

Time bells and Buddhas in Borobudur, Indonesia (H. Koppdelaney/H-K-D/Flickr.com)

  
Monastics, there are five future dangers. They are enough, when considered, for one living apart -- heedful, ardent, determined -- to live well. So one will attain the unattained, reach the unreached, realize the unrealized. What are the five?

    

1. At present I am young, dark-haired, endowed with the blessings of youth, in the prime (first stage) of life. 

  

But a time will come when this body will be beset by old age. Overcome with old age and decay, it is difficult to pay attention to the Buddha's teachings. It is difficult to reside isolated, withdrawn.

   

Before this unwelcome, disagreeable, displeasing thing happens, let me make an effort for the attaining the unattained, reaching of the unreached, realizing unrealized so that -- endowed with that Dharma -- I will live in peace even when old. This is the first future danger.

  

2. One reminds oneself, At present I am free from disease and discomfort, endowed with strong digestion. But a time will come when this body will be beset with some illness. When one is overcome with illness, it is difficult to pay attention to the Buddha's teachings....
    
Before this unwelcome, disagreeable, displeasing thing happens, let me make an effort for the attaining the unattained, reaching of the unreached, realizing unrealized so that -- endowed with that Dharma -- I will live in peace even when ill. This is the second future danger.

   

Famine

Famine strikes everywhere (mtholyoke.edu)

3. One reminds oneself, At present food is plentiful and alms are easy to come by. It is easy to maintain oneself by gleanings and patronage. But a time will come when there is famine: Food is scarce, alms are hard to come by, and it is not easy to maintain oneself. When there is famine, people will congregate where food is plentiful. There they will live struggling crowded together.

   

When one is living crowded together, it is not easy to pay attention to the Buddha's teachings. It is not easy to reside isolated, withdrawn. Before this unwelcome, disagreeable, displeasing thing happens, let me first make an effort to attain, reach, and realize the unrealized so that -- endowed with that Dharma -- I will live in peace even when there is famine. This is the third future danger.

   

Savage groups invade other countries (TV.com)

4. One reminds oneself, At present people are in harmony, on friendly terms, free of quarreling, mixing like milk and water, viewing one another with affectionate eyes. But a time will come when there is an invasion by savage groups. Taking power they will surround the country. Due to this, people will congregate where it is safe. There they will live struggling crowded together.

  

When one is crowded together, it is difficult to pay attention to the Buddha's teachings. It is difficult to reside isolated, withdrawn. Before this unwelcome, disagreeable, displeasing thing happens, let me first make an effort to attain, reach, and realize the unrealized so that -- endowed with that Dharma -- I will live in peace even when there is an invasion. This is the fourth future danger.

   

5. One reminds oneself, At present the community (Sangha) lives in harmony, is on friendly terms, is free of quarreling, abiding in comfort with a single recitation (of the rules of self-discipline). But a time will come when the community splits.

  

When it is split, it is difficult to pay attention to the Buddha's teachings. It is difficult to reside isolated, withdrawn. Before this unwelcome, disagreeable, displeasing thing happens, let me first make an effort to attain, reach, and realize the unrealized so that -- endowed with that Dharma -- I will live in peace even when the community is split. This is the fifth future danger.
   

These are just enough, when considered, for one -- heedful, ardent, and determined -- to live for attaining the unattained, reaching the unreached, realizing the unrealized.

   

Five further future dangers

In search of solitude (presscluboftibet.org)

1. One reminds oneself, I am now living alone, secluded, in the wilderness where a snake may bite me, a scorpion sting me, a crawling thing pierce me. And I would die. This death would be an obstruction for me. So let me make an effort for the attainment, reaching, and realization of what is yet to be realized [for the sake of wisdom and liberation]. This is the first future danger.

  

2. One reminds oneself, I am now living alone, secluded, in the wilderness where

• I might fall,
• Improperly digested food might afflict me,
• Bile might be aggravated,
• Phlegm might be aggravated,
• Piercing bodily winds might be aggravated.

And I would die. This death would be an obstruction for me. So I should strive and put forth effort for attaining, reaching, and realizing what is yet to be realized. This is the second future danger.

  

3. One reminds oneself, I am now living alone, secluded, in the wilderness where vicious beasts might attack. And I would die. This death would be an obstruction for me. So let me make an effort for attaining, reaching, and realizing what is yet to be realized. This is the third future danger.

  

4. One reminds oneself, I am now living alone, secluded, in the wilderness where I might run into youthful thugs bent on crime. And I would die. This death would be an obstruction for me. So let me make an effort for attaining, reaching, and realizing what is yet to be realized. This is the fourth future danger.

  

5. One reminds oneself, I am now living alone, secluded, in the wilderness where there are vicious [nonhuman, spirit] beings that might attack. And I would die. This death would be an obstruction for me. So let me make an effort for attaining, reaching, and realizing what is yet to be realized. This is the fifth future danger.

    

Yet another five future dangers

Could the military-banking elite ruin the 99%?

[The Buddha taught:] Five dangers will arise in the future. Remain alert to them, and strive to get rid of them. What five? 
   
1. In the future there will be monastics who are undeveloped in skillful conduct, virtue, mind (heart), and wisdom. They will fully ordain as monastics others yet will be unable to discipline them in terms of higher virtue, higher mind, and higher wisdom. They, too, will remain undeveloped in skillful conduct, virtue, mind, and wisdom.

From corrupt Dharma comes corrupt discipline; from corrupt discipline comes corrupt Dharma. This, disciples, is the first danger that will arise in the future. Be alert to it, and work to get rid of it.
   

2. In the future there will be monastics undeveloped in skillful conduct, undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in mind, undeveloped in wisdom. They will take on students yet will be unable to discipline them in higher virtue, mind, and wisdom.

They, too, will be undeveloped in skillful conduct, virtue, mind, and wisdom. They will take on students yet will be unable to discipline them in higher virtue, mind, and wisdom. They, too, will remain undeveloped in skillful conduct, virtue, mind, and wisdom.

   

From corrupt Dharma comes corrupt discipline, and from corrupt discipline comes corrupt Dharma. This, disciples, is the second danger that will arise in the future. Be alert to it, and work to get rid of it.

  

Next time, a bigger pretext for war?

3. In the future there will be monastics undeveloped in skillful conduct, virtue, mind, and wisdom who, when giving a talk on higher Dharma or a discourse of questions and answers, will fall into dark mental states without being aware of it. 

From corrupt Dharma comes corrupt discipline, and from corrupt discipline comes corrupt Dharma. This, disciples, is the third danger that will arise in the future. Be alert to it, and work to get rid of it.

4. In the future there will be monastics undeveloped in skillful conduct, virtue, mind, and wisdom. They will not listen when discourses (sutras) composed of the Tathagata's words -- deep, profound, transcendent, impersonal -- are being recited.

They will not lend ear, will not set their hearts on knowing, will not regard these teachings as worth grasping or mastering.

   

But they will listen when literary works -- works of poets, elegant in sound and rhetoric, the work of outside teachers, words of disciples -- are recited as discourses.

   

They will lend ear and set their hearts on knowing them. They will regard these teachings as worth grasping and mastering. 

   

From corrupt Dharma comes corrupt discipline, and from corrupt discipline comes corrupt Dharma. This, disciples, is the fourth danger that will arise in the future. Be alert to it, and work to get rid of it.

   

Reflecting lay life  (Woutertje010/flickr.com)

5. In the future there will be monastics undeveloped in skillful conduct, virtue, mind, and wisdom. They will become monastic elders (theras) living in luxury, lethargic, foremost in falling back, shirking the duties of solitude and (mental and physical) withdrawal.
  

They will fail to make an effort to attain the unattained, reach the unreached, realizing the unrealized. They will become an example for later generations, who will become luxurious in their living, lethargic, foremost in falling back, shirking the duties of solitude and withdrawal, who will fail to make an effort to attain the unattained, reach the unreached, realize the unrealized. 

From corrupt Dharma comes corrupt discipline, and from corrupt discipline comes corrupt Dharma. This, disciples, is the fifth danger that will arise in the future. Be alert to it, and work to get rid of it.

  

These are the five dangers that will arise in the future. Be alert to them, and work to get rid of them.

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Zen Garden School (cartoon)

Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Amber Dorrian, Wisdom Quarterly

Zen rock gardening (bizarrocomics.com)

 

What is Zen? 
"Zen" is a way of saying "fully collected attention, fully absorbed mind," a natural state sometimes referred to beginner's mind.

 

Zen is a Buddhist school, Japan's version of the Chinese Ch'an (absorbed concentration) movement.

  

This Buddhist school came from ancient India, where the practice is known as dhyana, in Pali jhana, in Vietnamese thien, and so on. In America, in modern English, it seems to mean "cool, calm effortlessness."

  

What is the Zen in the Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? 
It is confounding the Tao, "going with the flow," the way, the yin and yang of cyclical existence -- in Taoism as if it were Buddhism. Taoism so mixed with Buddhism, each influencing each other and mixing like water and milk, that it is not far from some aspects of the Dharma. But they are not actually the same at the core, just as cultural interpretations.

  

What does it mean to "meditate"? 
It means to cultivate something, to develop something, to bring something into being (bhavana). One brings virtue, concentration, and insight into being with balanced effort.

Like a revolving yin and yang circle, one balances effort and ease, strain and laxity, doing and being done. Many swear that when "it" (meditation) happens, they didn't do it. It did itself. It was done to them. It was effortless -- so long as one does not count all the "effort" of making time to sit and persisting in cultivating serenity and single-pointed attention.

 

This is "thoughtless" awareness, for although one is fully aware of one's surroundings and one's object of meditative attention, it is not "thinking about" or evaluating or judging or revolving in one's mind (its literal English definition, which is more appropriate in the preparatory cultivation of insight translated as contemplation).

What are those "Zen Garden" sandboxes about? 
It is part of Japan's artistic tradition turning the mundane and sparse into reflections of art and order.

• Pronouncing strange word (howjsay.com)

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Mind Revolution (B. Alan Wallace video)

AlanWallace.org; via Buddhist Geek VincentHorn.com

B. Alan Wallace (Roads to Bliss)

“…This is something that had been postponed for 300 years from the time of Copernicus. Can you imagine 300 years of the development of science -- of physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geology, etc., etc., 300 years before they actually started the scientific study of the mind?

“That should throw you back for a moment if you’ve not quite thought of it in those terms. This is bizarre. The mind is that with which you’re doing all the science. It would be like somebody giving you an instrument and saying, 'Use this instrument; you will discover a lot of things' then waiting 300 years before you actually look at the instrument itself.”

This video and quote come from B. Alan Wallace’s talk “Toward the First Revolution in the Mind Sciences.” 

  

The cool thing is that he is giving this talk to Google employees! Vince Horn met Alan in July and had a chance to listen to this talk in Boulder. It’s an excellent talk on the history of the physical and biological sciences in the West.

  

His theory on how the mind sciences are about to go through an equally profound revolution like the revolutions related to Galileo and Darwin in the physical and biological sciences respectively.

   

Meditation, of course, is first person introspection. So it -- refining the instrument -- has a lot to do with empirical Western sciences. Reading Wallace’s superb book The Attention Revolution goes a long way to examining the instrument as well.

Who in the world is?

Google TechTalks August 8, 2006 B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D. has been a scholar and practitioner of Buddhism since 1970. He is currently seeking ways to integrate Buddhist contemplative practices and Western science to advance the study of the mind. He is the founder and president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies ( http://sbinstitute.com ). ABSTRACT Galileo took a seminal role in launching the first revolution in the physical sciences, and a key element in this revolution was the rigorous, sophisticated observation of physical phenomena. Darwin likewise launched a revolution in the life sciences on the basis of decades of meticulous observation of biological phenomena. Although scientists have been studying the mind for more than a century, no comparable revolution has taken place in the mind sciences, and the missing element that may account for this delayed revolution is the absence of rigorous, precise observations of mental phenomena. By integrating the third-person methodologies...all »B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D. has been a scholar-practitioner of Buddhism since 1970, at one time serving as translator for the 14th Dalai Lama. He seeks ways to integrate Buddhist contemplative practices with Western science to advance the study of the mind. He is the founder and president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies (sbinstitute.com). 

(Think and Be Happy) How are mental wellbeing and hedonic pleasure to be

distinguished? What types of mental, verbal, physical behaviors support and/or

undermine the cultivation of mental balance?  How does it relate to wellbeing?

ABSTRACT 

Galileo and some nearby planets

Galileo played a seminal role in launching the first revolution in the hard physical sciences. A key element in this revolution was the rigorous and sophisticated observation of physical phenomena. Darwin likewise launched a revolution in the life sciences on the basis of decades of meticulous observation of biological phenomena. Although scientists have been studying the mind for more than a century, no comparable revolution has taken place in the mind sciences. The missing element that may account for this delayed revolution is the absence of rigorously precise observations of mental phenomena as established in the Buddhist Abhidharma. By integrating third-person methodologies common in the cognitive sciences with the first-person modes of examining the mind, which have been developed in Buddhism and other contemplative spiritual traditions, our present generation may bring about the first real revolution in the mind sciences

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Brains are cool! (Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor)

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor (drjilltaylor.com); Wisdom Quarterly

Dr. Jill "Brain Eye to Eye" (Kip May)

The Brain Extravaganza! was launched in Bloomington, Indiana, in April 2012. Brains, brains, brains! Big beautiful anatomically correct brains with 12 pairs of cranial nerves and all the gyri and sulci one could ever want.

  

There are 22 enormous fiberglass brains (5 feet long, 5 feet high, and 4 feet wide) in the hands of the artists who painted/decorated them for the extravaganza. This thrills Dr. Jill's heart, she explains.

   

Every brain will have a sign attached. On the sign will read five facts about the brain and a special question. Download a really cool mobile app at jbtbrains.org to paint your own brain. Then compare it to other brains, upload the image to Facebook [so the government can get a copy for your file], and talk brains, brains, brains. "YaY! Brains are cool!" the doctor and author of My Stroke of Insight insists. More

• Enlightenment by stroke
• On the heels of her viral sensation TED Talk, Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor wrote My Stroke of Insight. She was interviewed by Teri Gross on "Fresh Air."
• Hemorrhaging Nirvana
• Top 10 quirky facts about mass-produced food
• PHOTOS: Thai novices and the "Second King Monk" 

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Interview with an American Buddhist Soldier Serving in Afghanistan.

(Above: 1st Lt. Stephen J. Hunnewell)

Recently I was given the opportunity and honor to interview Buddhist Soldier and two-time Bronze Star Medal recipient, 1st Lt. Stephen J. Hunnewell, who is currently serving with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. I just first want to say how wonderful it is to know that there are Buddhists in the military. It is my hope that the calming teachings of Buddhism are helping the soldier deal with the stresses of combat.

I was humbled to be able to interview such a unique and courageous individual. As a Buddhist, I find war a particularly vicious extension of suffering that causes deeps wounds of the spirit and body. Yet, I am also a realist and understand that sometimes such abhorrent measures are unfortunately necessary to protect the innocent and maintain a semblence of humanity. Otherwise, the merchants of endless suffering pour forth rivers of blood that is unabated. That is an ugly picture to paint, to be sure. However, it is necessary that we Buddhist realize that we don't live in a Utopian world. It would be nice to believe that ending war on Earth is possible but, so long as there is attachment to power, greed and hatred, it will exist.

This doesn't mean that we shouldn't do everything in our power to reduce violence, war and bloodshed. We can also pressure our leaders to ensure that we will only go to war when all other methods of settling disputes has been thoroughly exhausted. It also means that we conduct war in a way that lessens innocent casualties and utilizes non-violent methods to bring an end to hostilities. Lieutenant Hunnewell is engaged in such non-violent projects within the Afghanistan war-zone and we are thankful for his sacrifice, work and inspiration.

As a Civil Affairs Team Leader, Hunnewell is responsible for overseeing a three Soldier team whose primary objective is to advise local Afghan officials on the implementation of productive governance processes and assist them in forming meaningful connections with the local population and ensuring they are properly serving the citizens which they represent.

So, now that you know his role better; lets proceed to the interview, shall we?

1). How do you maintain your Buddhist practice while out in the field?

I make a concerted effort each day to take some personal time for reflection and meditation. I am lucky in that where I live now I have my own personal space, wood walls separate myself and other Soldiers, and I am able to meditate whenever I am at the Combat Outpost. I spent the majority of this deployment living amongst the Afghan people and when I was living with them I usually woke-up before dawn, sat outside, and centered myself.

2). There are so many great and historic Buddhist sites in Afghanistan. How do you feel about the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban in Afghanistan?

The destruction the Bamiyan Buddhas is not only a great loss to Buddhists, but to all humanity. The sites were works of art and pieces of history which we have all been robbed of. Currently, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) is assisting the Chinese government in excavating the ancient site of Meys Aynak in Logar province.

3). How has your Buddhist practice helped you reach out to the Afghan people and communicate with them on the same level?

With regards to the reintegration process and conducting negotiations and mediations my practice has helped me tremendously. A short story; I was conducting a civic negotiation with local farmers in the Pech Valley, Kunar province, which is the most violent area in eastern Afghanistan and where the majority of my accumulated 18 months of service in Afghanistan has been spent. I was accompanied by a representative from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). We were assisting GIRoA officials in engaging local farmers in order to educate them on diversifying their crops to produce more nutrient dense feed for themselves and their animals as well as to deny the insurgents fields to hide and stage ambushes in. The farmers were very stubborn and would not listen to the government officials or the USDA representative and I.

I continued to engage in calm negotiations and eventually the farmers were convinced that diversifying the crops was not only good for them and their animals but also in the best interest of the coalition forces (CF) and the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The representative from the USDA then said to me, “Wow! You have a tremendous amount of patience with these people.”

I feel that my practice helps me to enter a situation with a beginners mind. I try to see the world from their view and not bring in preconceived notions. How would an Idaho potato farmer react to someone trying to tell them to grow blueberries? The people of the valley have grown corn for thousands of years and it had worked for them, why change? The operation, which was dubbed “Operation Crop Diversification”, resulted in over 1000 farmers in the valley diversifying their crops with the help of government subsistence and no attacks from the fields on both CF and ANSF.

Furthermore, I have engaged with insurgent leaders within days of being personally attacked by their troops and possibly themselves. A few of the incidents resulted in serious injuries and the loss of life, which harmed me as well. But I would continue to engage them in civil discourse in order to give hope to the reintegration process. Many times groups and individuals have been fighting due to a feeling of being wronged and many times they only want to have their grievances heard...

(...to be continued tomorrow).

~Peace to all beings~

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