Gone Beyond

Beyond the senses are their objects, and beyond the objects is the mind. Beyond the mind is pure reason, and beyond reason is the Spirit in man.

Beyond the Spirit in man is the Spirit of the universe, and beyond is Purusha (God/Godhead), the Spirit Supreme. Nothing is beyond Purusha: He is the End of the path.

The light of the Atman, man's Spirit, is invisible, concealed in all beings. It is seen by the seers of the subtle, when their vision is keen and is clear.

[from the Katha Upanishad]

Most of the time I'm content to stay within the realm of the very first level - the level of the senses. There's not much depth - just getting by in life, spinning from this project to that project, feeding my belly and doing things that feel good.

Oh how much we miss when we choose not to delve deeper. As Deepak Chopra says, perhaps Jesus' condemnation of "the world" and worldliness is not so much a disdain for the things of this world, but rather an invitation to see outer things as a trap that keeps us from going within to deeper realities.

This is why the Buddhists say:

"Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha"

or

"Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, oh what an awakening!"

Transcript

Julie asked for a transcript of the radio show I mentioned yesterday... here are some excerpts:

It's much simpler than this person is trying to make it in the world of duality... There are two places from which we live: one is from center, and the other is from egocentric, karmic conditioning. The world of egocentric, karmic conditioning is the world of duality, that's the world in which we have right and wrong and good and bad and us and them and up and down and its the world that almost everybody is living in all the time. That world of duality is contained within what we talk about as center.

When we are centered, when we are present, when we are living in a non-separate reality, there is absolutely no desire to cause harm. Now, that is not the same as "we are able to control life."

I'm very attentive to what's there, AND I cannot control (that which is out of my control). I can be as aware, and as present, and as attentive as I can be; I can do the very best that I can do, and I have no control over life.

So, where does morality comes from? Morality comes from presence. And understanding that there is no "self and other," that nothing can happen to "you" that doesn't happen to "me," that we are one. And that understanding - not as an intelluctual understanding - not as a theory - but experientially, knowing that, causes us to want to - as the classic traditional way of saying it in Buddhism - "to cease from evil, to do only good, and to do good for others."

Selfishness, a willingness to be harmful, taking what is not rightfully ours, all of that lives in the realm of egocentric karmic conditioning.

Michael: So the morality comes from being present?

Yes. And it's not even morality at that point, it's simply oneness; interconnectedness.

Michael: And in that place there's no room for all the dualities.

No. The dualities exist, but it's not something that we need to "figure out" or understand. It's true that light doesn't happen without darkness. If we view that in the world of duality, then they are opposites. When we step back and see that from center, we realize they are one. They're simply two ends of a continuum. They're not separate. You can't have one without the other... it's just not a problem (laughs). Life and death all happen within life.

All of this that we're talking about, all of it is experiential. Intellectual understanding is fine if it inspires us to have the experience. But an intellectual understanding without the experience is absolutely useless. It's like being really hungry, and having an intellectual understanding that eating food is going to take care of that hunger. The only thing that's going to take care of that hunger is eating the food.

One Last Re-Visit (Why Be Good?)

A few weeks ago we had a discussion on this blog entitled "Why Be Good?" about the topic of morality. Right before we began that discussion, I emailed my original question to the radio show "Open Air with Cheri Huber."

She answered it on last week's show.

Click here and listen to Segment 2 of that evening's show (the link opens Windows Media Player) and to skip forward to 13:04 to hear the quesiton and answer.

Of course she's right - even as I was hearing it being read, I cringed because once I heard it out loud, I realized that it was way too intellectual of a question. She gave a great response, by the way. If you're interested in such matters, be sure to give it a listen.

Why Be Good? (Post 3 of 5)

What a wonderful group of comments yesterday! Here's Jon (from The Wild Things of God) and his take on this subject.
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I asked my teacher a while back, with tears coursing down my cheeks, "why is good better than evil?" He said, gently, "who's to say it is?" NOT the answer I wanted to hear! But he loved me enough to tell me the truth.

Whenever considering spirituality, there's always the two points of view to consider: the Unknowable, Ultimate, Absolute, Unmanifested, Godhead, Brahman on one hand, and the intimate, present, relational, manifest, "Son", Atman on the other. Creator and creation.

God as Creator knows no-thing, is no-thing, God as creation knows everything by being everything. And one thing all creation informs him about is pain. So in Buddhism, the "moral imperative" isn't so much that at all, but a practical directive to eliminate dukkha. All creation experiences dukkha, anicca, and anatman, and all creation says "this sucks." So the Son is about redemption, love, honesty, and recognizing that the same Self is in all bodies and minds, regardless of which little one your locus of experience is associated with.

Yet on the other hand, there is the Absolute, from which all things come. The Old Testament is very honest in talking about evil coming from God as well as good--on almost every page. What happens, happens ultimately through God. This is monstrous when God is viewed as a "person.": Why did the six million Jews die?

But the Absolute is Nothing. Everything comes from Something, and that Something is Nothing. This is even more difficult to talk about.

From encountering this no-thing, even in the safe, veiled, temporary vehicle called meditation, we can see that no-thing is no conflict, no harm, no ill, well, nothing at all. It is peace, because peace is natural in no-thing.

So the Absolute perspective, has a foundation of Good... but it is absolutely (pun!) not the Good of good and evil, but simply that fact that evil can only occur where there is care, differentiated selves to have self-interest, and desires and fears.

But God doesn't have care. (Once my teacher startled me by saying, "God doesn't care if you believe in Him or not!")

I'd say there's also the individual aspect. If I am not free to rape, murder and destroy, then I am not free to love, heal and build. We are born free, then become conditioned through morality (most of us, anyway, thank God!). But then even morality becomes a shackle as well, and our love is less free giving than conditioned response. Our freedom needs to be felt anew, realized anew, though it does not *need* to have all aspects acted out!

Neither Paul nor Jesus comprised this teaching. Paul said simply, ALL things are permissible, not all are beneficial. Jesus routinely challenged the edges of the system. I love the story about the fish and the coin. When the collectors of the Temple tax came, he asked his disciples if kings tax their kids or others. Others, they said. Jesus answered, then their own kids are exempt, implying that none of them owed the tax.

He paid the tax, but didn't take a coin out of the group's treasury, but out of fish's mouth!

The paradoxes cannot be resolved: it's just the way it is. And "bad" guys and situations are needed for the "good" to work against and work through. When you see that, it becomes easier to love your enemy. All are necessary. The game is no fun without challenge. You want a rollercoaster to make you scream as well as laugh.

Why Be Good? (Post 2 of 5)

To continue yesterday's post, here is my own response to the question. It is certainly a work-in-progress and as I've said before, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything or make a universal statement - this is the conclusion that I have made... yours will be totally different.

The first thing that has struck me as odd is the word should. I find that to be absolutely the wrong word. No one says I should be "good." Believing there are "shoulds" heaps on unnecessary guilt when I break my own good/bad rules and stems from an ignorant starting point.

If all my bullet-points were true, then it's quite alright for one to be a total bastard. That, too, is a manifestation of Spirit and HAS to exist in order for everything else to exist. Can you have a coin without a "tails" side? That doesn't mean that there shouldn't be stern punishment for the "evil-doers" (in order to allow all to live in a civilized society), but rather they are allowed to be who they are (internally). Wow, how Ken Wilber was THAT!

That being said, there are way more than enough "unconscious" people who lean toward the dark side without those who are conscious choosing that path.

It's not about should. It's about choice.

Knowing that the universe is full of every type of person, every form of manifestation, every side of duality, at least SOME of us must choose (are called or chosen or fated?) to represent the white/light/good side. Just as there are Hitlers, there have to be Zen monks - and everything inbetween on both sides. This doesn't mean that the Light Team should, or even will win each battle, just that the teams are balanced.

If I feel a pull toward the Jedi side, then may I go for it! I am a manifestation of the Positive and Light side of the polarity. That has to exist too! With all of my might, I can give, serve, love, teach, BE, radiate, paint, see, sit, fight for the white side...

And, if there is indeed One Self, even if "I" in this place, in this life, choose to fully play for the Light team, I am not imbalanced, as there are other aspects of mySelf in the Universe that balance me out. It's the same reason one should not be covetous, but rather happy, at the fortune of someone else - that's yourSelf!

At the end of the day, I am realizing that what used to be a focus on morality is being replaced by a focus on compassion. Compassion for no other reason than ... easing pain and suffering (your own and others). On her radio show a few weeks ago, Zen teacher Cheri Huber said that compassion is acting to “free people from suffering. Not to fix them, not to change them, not to judge them, not to criticize them, not to beat them, not to believe they should be different, but just to save them from all that suffering they're feeling.” Does your own suffering and the suffering of others break your heart? Do you think misery "sucks?" Then be a kind and gentle person! Don't beat yourself up when you don't fully make that happen, but at the same time, enjoy the possibilties of compassionate awareness.

And as far as refraining from the "bad" things, it just comes naturally when you realize that the universal prohibitions - such as the Ten Commandments and the Buddhist Precepts, that say don't lie, don't steal, etc. - are just guidelines to keep you present and centered and from feeling like a separate self. Remember we (and others) are not punished for our "sin," but by our sin. But hey, if you or I choose to "be bad," to wallow in suffering, then that's our prerogative.

As for me, I'm finding that peace comes when I act not out of conditioning, but out of a compassionate centeredness - and from that, there is no good/bad, right/wrong - just the opportunity in THAT moment to act in the most appropriate way.