Reading for November 30

Being Intimate with What Is

From “Being Intimate with What Is: Healing the Pain of Separation” by Dorothy Hunt in The Sacred Mirror: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy, edited by John J. Prendergast, Peter Fenner, and Sheila Krystal

When what is awake directly touches on its own experience of anything, there is a deep intimacy with what is. By directly, I mean when the thinking mind is not engaged in it’s usual efforts to separate, label, understand, categorize, judge, dampen, exaggerate, deny, change, manipulate, or create stories about the experience of the moment. To experience something directly is not to discharge it, deny it, act it out, redirect it, repress it, represent it, judge it, analyze it make commentary about it, or “understand” it with the mind. It is to be one with it, to experience it fully. This direct experiencing is always transformative.

In this intimacy, we find ourselves undivided. When we experience being our wholeness, we are not afraid to experience the truth of the moment, regardless of how things look to the judging mind. This realization of our undivided being feels very holy, because it is whole. The words heal, whole, and holiness all share the same root, but our awakeness is actually neither sacred nor profane. It is simply awake. It is experienced by some as Presence, but there is no one to “become” present. It is unfailing healing because it experiences itself as whole. It is who or what we are when we are not busy creating our identities out of ideas. It is spacious, without boundaries of any kind, and yet expresses itself in the human experience of our lives. What is awake is never a concept and never separate from the moment as it is.

When we do not separate ourselves from the mystery of our own essential awake being, or separate ourselves from experiencing the truth of the moment as it is-the felt sense of the body of being-we do not suffer. Physical bodies may experience pain; thinking minds may be confused; emotions may present themselves as intensely positive or negative; but we are not suffering. We are living from the truth of our wholeness, being who/what we truly are, and this is never divided, never in conflict, even when conflict is being played out.

We are not trying to transcend the moment, or change our thoughts about the moment; we are simply being intimate with the moment exactly as it is. Nothing needs to change. What was rejected is welcomed; what was divided is whole; what was “out there” comes close. Such living experiencing of the truth of our being and the authentic truth of the moment is always healing. Conversely, it is our separation from the moment and our separation form the truth of our being that creates suffering.

Holiday Practice Schedule

One Dharma will meet each Monday night in December, but we will only meet on one Wednesday and Saturday. Our  Wednesday “just sit” night meets on December 9 only and our Saturday Study Group meets on Dec. 12 only. For a detailed listing of our regular practice schedule, go here.

May you enjoy a safe and happy holiday season.

Thanksgiving week reminder

Our Wednesday night “just sit” meditation will not be held this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Our Saturday study group will be meeting as usual, Nov. 28 at 10 a.m. at the 12 South Dharma Center. Everyone is welcome to join us for informal dharma discussion and meditation.

Reading for November 23

The Nothing That Heals Us
by Sharon Salzberg

It’s the end of daylight savings time on the east coast, and it just about always seems to be dim. Each day is largely dark, and cold, hinting at the uselessness of endeavor and the insubstantiality of what we ordinarily run around seeking. It’s a good time to be depressed. This is the way we conventionally view what Buddhists call emptiness, and mystics of many traditions call nothingness or the Void. A really murky day, pointing to the uselessness of it all. But at the heart of personal, transformative wisdom, this emptiness isn’t a cold, depressing problem, leading us down to nihilism – seeing emptiness is liberation. It brings us right through the seeming solidity and oppressiveness of our ordinary concerns, into a world where reality is shimmering, translucent, vital, while also being insubstantial, fleeting, and evanescent.

In speaking of the unalloyed, direct knowing of profound emptiness, the Buddha said, “Oh, Bhikkus, (mendicants) there is the unborn and the unconditioned. Here the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire have no place. The notions of length and breadth, the subtle and the gross, good and evil, name and form are altogether destroyed. Neither this world nor the other, no coming, going or standing, neither death nor birth, nor sense objects are to be found here.”

In our human lives, experiencing this kind of profound emptiness means that like a candle flame gets blown out, our separateness and suffering are blown out. Not our capacity for love, or kindness, or clear seeing, or relationships, or work, or choosing soy ice cream in the grocery store over the dairy kind.

And the experience of this profound, liberating emptiness isn’t meant only for those who lived long ago in far away places, sitting in caves and at the roots of trees. It is beckoning right here and now.

In our society we are taught to badly want this and want that. But no matter what we get, it is never enough because it doesn’t last. So the search for new experiences goes on and on. We look for new intellectual experiences and sexual experiences and cosmic experiences. Over and over. We even see people willing to destroy their bodies, their minds and their loving relationships–destroy their lives–for a new experience.

Even if a pleasant experience could endure, we could not bear for it to go on and on. Who could watch the same movie over and over without wanting a break? Who could listen to a sweet sound that never stops? Yet commonly when we seek rest from one experience we do so, ironically, by seeking another. It is possible to find rest even from the constant tedium and pressure of changing experience through knowing the difference between bleakness and what is meant in Buddhism by emptiness.

May the consideration of nothing free you from anxiety, dread, and all unhappy things. It’s right here.

Reminder: Mike Snider tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.

One Dharma Nashville Presents
AN AFTERNOON WITH MIKE SNIDER
SATURDAY, NOV. 14
1 – 3 P.M.
12 South Dharma Center
Cost: No set fee, but donations of any amount are appreciated

Satsang with Mike followed by Q&A session

Mike Snider, a talented Grand Ole Opry member, describes himself as “an ol’ country boy who was starving to know God and found that God was not a him or her or it…and loves to share with people how simple, available and immediate God (or your true nature) really is.”

Mike has been asked to teach by Adyashanti, and is highly recommended by author Joan Tollifson (Awake In The Heartland). This will be a refreshingly different perspective on nondualism and awareness.

Reading for November 9

Impermanence is a Practice, Not an Abstract Principle
by Caitríona Reed

In Buddhist teaching impermanence (anicca) is one of the three universal characteristics, sometimes referred to as the Three Marks of Existence, along with no-self (anata) and suffering (dukkha).

It is important to remember that the Buddha emphasized practical tools for change, and steered away from metaphysics and theoretical speculation. “I teach one thing.” he said, “suffering and freedom from suffering.” In addition, he recommended that we question and test received beliefs and teachings-including the ones that came from him.

In the West, however, we are not used to challenging beliefs, especially in a religious context. Despite many signs to the contrary, we have a deeply conformist tendency. Challenging authority is still associated with heresy. So teachings that are intended as practical instructions become inadvertently turned into fixed principles.

This distinction may seem subtle, but it is an important one. It is not hard to understand that everything does indeed change, and that everything is impermanent. But when you turn Impermanence into a fixed principle you limit your ability to actually assess your experience of impermanence, and you miss some important distinctions.

Impermanence might be more usefully understood as a process. Turning impermanence into a principle makes it into a thing, an unquestioned abstraction removed from scrutiny or actual experience.

For example, within the cycles of history, or within the cycles of your own life-journey, some events are fleeting phenomena, while others may be relatively consistent components of repeating patterns.

Another example is in the pervasive notions that we hold, collectively or individually, about such things as race, gender, sex, class, and money. We may have certain inherited points of view, and we may have perspectives that we have become so identified with over time that we can’t imagine challenging them.

Notions are continually changing, to be sure, and in many ways. Yet it may be useful to look at how we hold onto certain attitudes, prejudices, and points of view. It is also useful to know the difference between the fleeting sort of change, and the kind that is cyclic.

There’s a relativity to this too. Everything changes, yes. But what changes for a mountain or a forest may seem very fixed from the perspective of an ant or a human-being. What seems endless to a three year old may be a momentary instant to their parents.

It is true that at the core, beyond objective and subjective, there are no distinctions to be made-no gender,no race, no class, no otherness. And yet, we live in a world of complex distinctions. If we are to navigate with skill, it serves us to differentiate between what changes all too fast, what lingers, what might change but does not, and what we can rely on to be consistent.

Caitríona Reed is a Dharma Teacher and Group Facilitator who has led retreats and workshops in Buddhism, Deep Ecology, and Social Responsibility in the U.S. and Europe since 1981.

November practice schedule

Monday Meditation, 7 – 8:30 p.m,.every Monday night in November. Meditation, chanting, and dharma talk/discussion. Newcomers should arrive at 6:45 for orientation.

Saturday Study Group, November 14 and 28, 10 – 11:30 a.m. Ongoing study of the Dhammapada. This is an open group and newcomers are always welcome. Contact Rana for more information: rana_mukherji@yahoo.com

Wednesday “Just sit” Nights, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. November 11. (No meeting on November 25, the day before Thanksgiving.) Meditation practice, followed by a short chant and q&a period. All are welcome. Please arrive 15 minutes early for your first practice with us.

There is no cost to attend any of our meetings, but donations are appreciated to help us cover the cost of rent and associated expenses. Visit our website for more informaton and our practice location.

Fall Meditation Retreat Recap

We just completed our fall meditation retreat at Penuel Ridge, and our focus on impermanence couldn’t have been more evident in nature over the weekend. It went from sunny and warm, to overcast, to heavy rains and cold, then back to perfectly clear and crisp on Sunday morning. We even enjoyed an incredible rushing waterfall after the rains. On Halloween night, the almost full moon, perfectly circled by brightly lit clouds, was truly a sight to see against the backdrop of the rural Tennessee ridges.

We were honored to have participants join us from Chicago and San Diego. Their journey to Nashville was touch and go but they finally made it to the retreat site late Thursday night with the help from another retreat participant who patiently waited at the airport for a flight that was three hours late. We had people of all levels of meditation experience, from brand new to decades of sitting practice. Everyone gave it their all, which was especially evident by the strength of the group meditation practice on Sunday morning. Many thanks to everyone who participated and supported this fulfilling retreat.

Special event: Mike Snider

On Saturday, November 14, One Dharma will present guest speaker Mike Snider, from 1-3 p.m. at 12 South Dharma Center.

Snider, a talented Grand Ole Opry member, describes himself as “an ol’ country boy who was starving to know God and found that God was not a him or her or it…and loves to share with people how simple, available and immediate God (or your true nature) really is.”

Mike has been asked to teach by Adyashanti, and is highly recommended by author Joan Tollifson (Awake In The Heartland). This will be a refreshingly different perspective on nondualism and awareness.

Format: satsang followed by Q&A
Cost: No set fee, but donations of any amount are appreciated

Reading for November 2

Meditation and the Self
by Shinzen Young

Everyone has a sense of self. Upon careful investigation we discover that this sense of self consists of ideas and body sensations which arise and fade moment by moment. Such ideas and body sensations might be described as “self-referential” i.e. they are related to producing a sense of self. Most spiritual traditions encourage some kind of letting go of self or ego. Buddhism in particular puts great emphasis on realizing “no self.”

Personally, I like to view this as a process of clarifying the sense of self. This clarification proceeds in two stages, corresponding to the two meanings of the English word “clarify.” Something becomes clear when it goes from being nebulous to being distinct. But also, something becomes clear when it goes from being opaque to being transparent.
Through consistent practice we develop the skill of mindfulness which allows us to detect with great clarity the often nebulous self-referential ideas and body sensations as they arise in each act of perception. We also develop equanimity so that we can allow these ideas and body sensations to expand and contract without suppression, interference or clinging. Eventually contact with the sense of self becomes so continuous that there is no time left to congeal or fixate it. The self then becomes clarified in the sense that it is no longer experienced as an opaque, rigid, ever-present entity, but rather as a transparent, elastic, vibratory activity. It loses its “thingness.” We realize that it is a verb not a noun, a wave not a particle.

This elastic sense of self can freely contract down to zero. We then realize a state of true peace and oneness with all things. It can also expand as a vibrant, zestful, deeply human yet non-substantial activity of individual personality. The former is no self in the sense of zero self, and the latter is no self in the sense of no fixated thing called a self.
According to this paradigm, in enlightenment the unconsciousness and fixation associated with those ideas and body sensations which produce a sense of self get eliminated. The sense of self becomes a home rather than a prison. You can come and go freely.

But, you may ask, “Who becomes free? What observes the ideas and body sensations?” Such questions arise from two sources. One is perceptual and the other linguistic. These two are constantly reinforcing each other, resulting in deep and pervasive confusion. Ordinarily, each act of perception is accompanied by a new burst of self-referential ideas and body sensations. Because for most people those ideas and body sensations are both indistinct and congealed, they produce a sense of “thing” called doer or perceiver. This perception of doer or perceiver as entity becomes ensconced in the grammatical structure of human speech as substantive pronouns (I, you, who). Thus the perception of “self as thing” is reinforced with almost every utterance we speak.

It is for this reason that questions like, “What does the observing?” or “Who gets enlightened?” seem so natural and yet are so difficult to answer. Grammatically, interrogative pronouns (who, what) must be answered with substantive nouns (this, that). In point of fact no thing meditates or gets wisdom. Rather, the skills of mindfulness and equanimity become so strong and habitual that they “seep around the edges” and soak into the ideas and body sensations that are producing the sense of an “I” practicing meditation.