Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[cold]

 

22 minutes ago, Michael Sternbach said:

 

 

Of course, the principles I was talking about in above post are not limited to cases of drug addiction in a narrower sense in their application. The addiction could be to anything at all, including "attachments" in general, as the term is used in Buddhist parlance.

 

It would still be much better to gently guide the sufferer or seeker to self-discovery rather than trying to change their inclinations in a forceful manner, as concepts like "cutting through fixation" and "tough love" suggest.

 

Stating in other words what you wrote above:

 

One is much better off leading a beast of burden to water rather than pushing or otherwise prodding them. And when becomes really wise they will see who is carrying the burden and who is gently nudging.

This I suggest requires extreme awareness and patience.

[C T]

Buddhist mind training exercise is somewhat like a life-long dedication to keeping a katana (samurai sword) honed at all times. 

 

As a dull-edged katana would induce unnecessary resistance when a cut is made, so too an untrained mind when attempting to cut thru delusions and dualistic habit patterns. A sharpened, polished awareness instantly cuts through with ease, and leaves nothing out of place. In this way, the mind swiftly returns to its centre, and the katana to its scabbard once the function is complete - one resting in mindfulness, the other, in readiness. Wielding and resting of both becomes one immaculate, seamless action, and to an observer not familiar with subtle seeing, its as if nothing moved. 

Edited February 21, 2018 by C T

[doc benway]

6 hours ago, C T said:

"Gradually I began to recognize how feeble and transitory the thoughts and emotions that had troubled me for years actually were, and how fixating on small problems had turned them into big ones. Just by sitting quietly and observing how rapidly, and in many ways illogically, my thoughts and emotions came and went, I began to recognize in a direct way that they weren't nearly as solid or real as they appeared to be. And once I began to let go of my belief in the story they seemed to tell, I began to see the 'author' behind them - the infinitely vast, infinitely open awareness that is the nature of mind.

 

Any attempt to capture the direct experience of the nature of mind in words is impossible. The best that can be said is that the experience is immeasurably peaceful, and, once stabilized through repeated experience, virtually unshakeable. It's an experience of absolute well-being that radiates through all physical, emotional, and mental states - even those that might be ordinarily labelled as unpleasant. This sense of well-being, regardless of the fluctuation of outer and inner experiences, is one of the clearest ways to understand what Buddhists mean by 'happiness'."

 

 

~ Mingyur Rinpoche ~ 

 

 

 

 

 

I often see people question or criticize Buddhist practice and fruition as being too detached, implying a dullness, unresponsiveness, disconnectedness...

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Thank you for sharing this wonderfully concise yet comprehensive passage!

What more is needed?

 

 

[Bindi]

1 hour ago, steve said:

 

I often see people question or criticize Buddhist practice and fruition as being too detached, implying a dullness, unresponsiveness, disconnectedness...

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Thank you for sharing this wonderfully concise yet comprehensive passage!

What more is needed?

 

 

 

It is also true that it was a Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist - John Welwood - who introduced the term spiritual bypassing in the 1980's to describe the tendency he witnessed in the Western Buddhist movement to unconciously utilise this tactic...

 

Quote

 Being a good spiritual practitioner can become what I call a compensatory identity that covers up and defends against an underlying deficient identity, where we feel badly about ourselves, not good enough, or basically lacking. Then, although we may be practicing diligently, our spiritual practice can be used in the service of denial and defense. And when spiritual practice is used to bypass our real-life human issues, it becomes compartmentalized in a separate zone of our life, and remains unintegrated with our overall functioning. [...] In my psychotherapy practice I often work with dharma students who have engaged in spiritual practice for decades. I respect how their practice has been beneficial for them. Yet despite the sincerity as practitioners, their practice is not fully penetrating their life. They seek out psychological work because they remain wounded and not fully developed on the emotional/relational/personal level, and they may be acting out their wounding in harmful ways

 

[C T]

If an individual uses a spiritual path to bypass real-life human issues, is that path the cause of the bypassing? 

A person who has a fractured leg needs a crutch to aid the recovery process. The responsibility for using the crutch in an integrated fashion, and the abidance by certain basic rules of usage lies not with the crutch certainly.

 

This is not to say 'spiritual bypassing' is not an issue - it is, and it happens across the board, not just Buddhism. John Welwood must have his reasons for implying an association between Buddhism and this psychological malady, but I think the association is not entirely accurate. 

Edited February 22, 2018 by C T

[Bindi]

29 minutes ago, C T said:

If an individual uses a spiritual path to bypass real-life human issues, is that path the cause of the bypassing? 

A person who has a fractured leg needs a crutch to aid the recovery process. The responsibility for using the crutch in an integrated fashion, and the abidance by certain basic rules of usage lies not with the crutch certainly.

 

This is not to say 'spiritual bypassing' is not an issue - it is, and it happens across the board, not just Buddhism. John Welwood must have his reasons for implying an association between Buddhism and this psychological malady, but I think the association is not entirely accurate. 

 

The Full article is here

He doesn't think it's only relevant to Buddhism, I gather it's just where he noticed it first.

Reading some Buddhist material I can see how easily it could be used to justify spiritual bypassing, and to justify it righteously so that the bypassing even becomes evidence of achievement. 

I've read some Buddhist psychology and I don't see it there though. 

[C T]

18 minutes ago, Bindi said:

 

The Full article is here

He doesn't think it's only relevant to Buddhism, I gather it's just where he noticed it first.

Reading some Buddhist material I can see how easily it could be used to justify spiritual bypassing, and to justify it righteously so that the bypassing even becomes evidence of achievement. 

I've read some Buddhist psychology and I don't see it there though. 

 

I think in some of the cases the tendency for avoidance - the formational period where this habit took shape in a person's psyche - would have been there even before the embarkation on a spiritual journey. If there is a refusal to acknowledge the issue, then persisting with the journey could well throw up more obstacles than if the issue was addressed either prior to or at the beginning of the transitional phase. 

[doc benway]

10 hours ago, Bindi said:

 

It is also true that it was a Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist - John Welwood - who introduced the term spiritual bypassing in the 1980's to describe the tendency he witnessed in the Western Buddhist movement to unconciously utilise this tactic...

 

 

 

Your point is valid and acknowledged but I disagree with what John states in the quotation.

He begins by saying "Being a good spiritual practitioner can become what I call ..."

What he subsequently goes on to describe is not the consequence of being a good spiritual practitioner but rather being a misguided practitioner. Being a good practitioner, having a good teacher, and following a credible path should result in real world integration and positive changes in our lives. Otherwise, something is lacking and we need to redirect ourselves. 

 

 

[ilumairen]

57 minutes ago, Apeiron&Peiron said:

 

 

Unfortunately, many people don't pick up teachings with the understanding that they are the ones that will need to change. Many people pick up teachings with the unspoken goal of legitimizing whatever it is that they've already been doing. 

And there can be a propensity for looking for external causes when 'difficult' situations and emotions arise.. negating the gift that 'working with' painful or uncomfortable emotions can be - in essence 'bypassing'.

[C T]

"Is Buddhist nirvana equivalent to the Garden of Eden described in the Bible?" 

 

 

[ilumairen]

28 minutes ago, Apeiron&Peiron said:

And why is that directed at me?

 

It was agreement with what was set forth, and additional thoughts. And many times, if I take the time to post, it is as much a reminder to me as it is for anyone else who may (or may not) find worth in the sharing. 

 

[C T]

1 hour ago, Apeiron&Peiron said:

The designation of "demons" that it uses is actually holographic. It is similar to the influence of angels and demons in Christianity or the suras and asuras in Hinduism. They are considered to be both entities in their own right and also things that exist, in a partial way, in people.

 

It actually makes quite a bit of sense when you understand it as holographic geometry. There is nothing fully internal and nothing fully external. But it is through the various dimensions that your own habits (known and unknown) insinuate into your energy body.

 

Some exist from genetics, others from habits.

 

 

Those are really useful points to ponder over. 

 

In Tibetan culture, it is believed that some of our thought forms, especially those that are driven by habit tendencies, can condense into entities (tulpas) that at the embryonic stages feeds off the energy of that/those habit(s) that gave birth to it, thru a kind of psychic umbilical cord, and over time, as it matures, it can break free, depending on how concentrated the energetic substance was and how embedded the particular habits were. In its independence, it can travel astrally and sometimes get up to mischief, but will always return and hover close to its 'life giver'. For example, a person thinks ill of his relative living a distance away, and if the thoughts reaches neurotic levels, it is not uncommon for the relative to actually sense some kind of negative vibe, but might not be entirely sure of the source. Some believe this is the work of tulpas. This also explains how some masters can see people's energetic imprints - the power of their third eye enables them to see these tulpas quite clearly. 

 

Following the same principle, generally speaking, those who practice the Dharma diligently, with some sustained level of kindness, compassion, joy, equanimity, generosity and insight, will also give birth to similar tulpas, but of a benevolent nature. 

 

Some yogis, those who possess well-developed psychic abilities, can exert mastery over these tulpas and have the power to subdue the mischievous ones and also power to strengthen the benevolent ones. 

 

It is also believed that groups, large or small, can also collectively create tulpas that share similar attributes to the ones mentioned above. Their actions would largely be dependent on the collective general states of mind of either a particular group, culture or even a nation. The Ghostbusters (part 1) theme was largely developed from this premise. 

 

Its an interesting idea. 

Edited February 22, 2018 by C T

[Michael Sternbach]

5 hours ago, ilumairen said:

And there can be a propensity for looking for external causes when 'difficult' situations and emotions arise.. negating the gift that 'working with' painful or uncomfortable emotions can be - in essence 'bypassing'.

 

Exactly right. A lot of people are afraid of their emotions. When in truth there is nothing inside us that we should be afraid of.

 

By projecting our difficult emotions out of ourselves and onto external entities (either 'demons' or people), we may feel some temporary relieve, but we won't be getting anywhere in the long run. In fact, we are creating blockades in ourselves that will impede the free flow of our vital energy and likely have further psychological and/or physical ramifications.

 

Much better to go the other way. Taking a little time to relax... Then, in a protected inner space, allowing ourselves to fully experience that fear, anger, guilt... Whatever it is that is holding us prisoner. Loving acceptance is key. When we start relaxing in the presence of the emotion, we know we are getting somewhere. Actually, it's easy.

 

We have each of our emotions for a reason, but it doesn't need to be the final word. Accepting and fully experiencing a "negative" emotion will sometimes be all it takes to make it dissipate. At other times, we need to dig deeper.

 

With our emotions, there will invariably be certain thoughts associated. Becoming aware of those thoughts will reveal the beliefs that they are based on - beliefs that we hold about ourselves and about our world. We will recognize those that are less than beneficial to us and/or our environment - be they overly restrictive, one-sided, unloving towards ourselves or others, etc. And we will be able to let them go or modify them in the light of our understanding. Right away, or when we are ready. Becoming the masters of our own mind.

 

This alone is the liberation that the practitioners of Buddhism and other spiritual traditions are seeking.

[doc benway]

On 2/22/2018 at 9:36 PM, Michael Sternbach said:

This alone is the liberation that the practitioners of Buddhism and other spiritual traditions are seeking.

 

I was with you up until this statement. While this is a part of liberation, it is not the entirety of it in my view.

[Michael Sternbach]

2 hours ago, steve said:

 

I was with you up until this statement. While this is a part of liberation, it is not the entirety of it in my view.

 

I meant that there can be no real liberation without facing and working through your issues. In contrast to using Buddhism and Buddhist meditation as a form of escapism, as some are prone to do.

 

Maybe I should have phrased it differently though.

[cold]

There are many routes up the mountain, just as there are many distractions along the way.

With experience the distractions no longer are impediments. But rather develop into opportunities.

[manitou]

On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 4:15 PM, C T said:

"Is Buddhist nirvana equivalent to the Garden of Eden described in the Bible?" 

 

 

 

 

I hadn't watched this until just now, and it reminds me of something that I recently observed.  (For those who didn't watch it, at one point he refers to calmness of the mind through meditation carrying over to everyday life, and how the mind no longer seeks external stimuli - like going places, amusement, etc - for fulfillment.)  Rather, it find fulfillment in noticing the world in a different way.

 

I walk the dogs daily in a beautiful park.  There is a nice canopy of trees, mainly oaks, over in one section.  It's my favorite place to walk the dogs.  There is a huge vine that I have noticed for months which grows out of the earth right next to one old grandfather oak, and it winds its way up the trunk.  A few days ago, I stood and actually studied that vine.  It has a brain, no doubt.  It is very thick at the bottom and maintains a lot of thickness all the way up.  At one point, it leaves the tree and meanders out into the air, starting a downward turn as gravity would override its desire to get up to the sun (although canopied) due to its thickness.  However, after going down for 5 or 6 feet, it suddenly makes a severe U-turn and goes straight up into the air, straight as an arrow.  It somehow knows that there is a big oak branch about 30 feet up there that will catch it, and it can wind around the tree up there.  Then, it defies gravity again, going over to a different section, does some winding, and then reaches over to the next tree and does the same.

 

I've been trying to figure this out, and it boggles my mind.  I've wondered if it doesn't actually start growing as a projection of the tree from the upper branches, then actually grow down, and plant itself into the earth and thicken, making it appear that it started from the ground up.  But it still doesn't explain the U-turns in the several places, in either scenario, as the vine is so heavy - much like a  thin tree branch.

 

I've pointed this out to several people and we all just stand there with our mouths agape and marvel at the intelligence built into nature.

 

[manitou]

On ‎2‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 1:30 PM, cold said:

There are many routes up the mountain, just as there are many distractions along the way.

With experience the distractions no longer are impediments. But rather develop into opportunities.

 

 

Aaah.  I just thought of something else, which relates to cold's comment.

 

Regarding the above video and the original question from CT re: 'could this be the garden of eden as described in the bible?', my answer would be Yes.  (I didn't watch the second half of the video yet so maybe the Rinpoche addresses this very thing).

 

In the bible, the fall from 'eden' created the desire for knowledge of good and evil.  This would be the beginning of mental clutter, the ability to think and judge.  To meditate is to rid one's self of the mental clutter - at the very least, not to let one's life be dictated to by the mindless chatter - the "story" which includes the remorse of yesterday and the fear of tomorrow (neither of which actually exist).  The analogy is certainly there, addressing CT's original question.  and the answer is reflected in cold's observation.

 

Perhaps the garden of eden, the pure intent, is the ability to see and live in  the beauty of the Now.  Nirvana.

[silent thunder]

I wrestled with the concept of Eden and the Fall from Grace, while being raised Charismatic Lutheran, particularly as the age of reason kicked in.  It just stuck in my mind like a sliver that didn't fit with the idea of a loving creator.  And it seemed to be a punishment, when I considered that the story of the Garden represented a place that had been made by a model maker/creator and we were inhabitants, allowed to live there through the favor of the model maker.  As my suspicion at the model maker theory weakened through my experiences and learning...

 

It struck me, one day that the paradise of Eden was not a place where the first two humans lived... but Eden was the state of unified blissful awareness all awareness stems from and 'The Fall' was an analogy for the descent of undifferentiated, unified awareness, the pure light, pure awareness into the realm of duality and form.  The fall from Eden upon eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, was the merging of awareness into the slow, dense dimension of forms. 

 

Once awareness 'fell', descended , or coalesced into the slower, denser vibration of physical forms and identity as a separate self with a 'form' arose, the peace of Eden was naturally dissolved into the differentiated mind of comparison, duality, pain and pleasure, likes/dislikes, wants/unwanted, desired/undesired, good and bad.  The knowledge of good and evil wasn't a sin that required punishment, rather the warning was... 'if awareness descends into this... it is going to saturate and harness and drive duality into awareness and Eden is lost.  You are not 'kicked out' of Eden as a punishment.  There is no movement even taking place, rather it is the shift as unity dissolves into the realization and experience of duality."

 

The warning of the knowledge of good and evil was a simple statement of fact regarding the manifestations of duality, not a dire warning of an angry father.  When awareness descends into the realm of form, agreeable and disagreeable, good and bad, wanted and unwanted all flourish and coarise naturally.  It's not a punishment, it's just the nature of awareness in form, as opposed to awareness in the unity of non-form.

 

Not long after this, I had a related realization regarding the ten commandments.  They were no longer a list of things one should never do, or risk eternal punishment at the hands of some petty tyrant carefully watching and waiting to punish infractions.  Rather, like the information about the knowledge of good and evil, they are listed more like path markers than rules for punishment. 

 

A subtle shift occured and instead of seeing a list of 'never do these things and you will be closer to god, or do any of these and god will punish you'... it seems to me now, they are teaching markers... to let you know where your current path is leading.  When you walk with the light of loving unity in your heart (knowing god to me), you will not kill, or steal... you won't steal because there will be no coveting.  There can be no other gods as when you embody this path, the light abides from within your very source and permeates all that you embody.  You will worship nothing above this moment as realization of the illusion makes that ridiculously, humorously impossible.

 

The commandments for me on that day, dissolved in the old form of a dire warning and measure of control by an external force, into the compassionate explanation of how to clearly and instantly see based on how you relate to the realms of form, outside of Eden/bliss of unified awareness, of just where your path is currently going...

[manitou]

I think that was brilliant, Silent Thunder.  The fall from grace being the loss of the blissful unified awareness descending into form.  I too was brought up Lutheran, although not charismatic.  After a certain age I felt that the 10 commandments were redundant, that any person should have that goodness in their hearts already.

[manitou]

Is anybody else not able to read The Lerner and Silent Thunder's further comments?  Are we stuck on page 48 or is it just my computer?

[doc benway]

I'm stuck on page 48

[manitou]

Okay, I get it now.  New format again.  There's a difference between 'responded' and 'commented'.  I thought The Lerner and Silent Thunder actually posted something.  But it was just a thumbs up.  Maybe we're still in business?

[silent thunder]

56 minutes ago, manitou said:

Okay, I get it now.  New format again.  There's a difference between 'responded' and 'commented'.  I thought The Lerner and Silent Thunder actually posted something.  But it was just a thumbs up.  Maybe we're still in business?

Oh good, thank you for clarifying.  I was wracking my brain to think if I'd posted again in this thread or not...

 

Part of me assumed I'd wandered into a digital room and forgotten why I was there... again. 

[gnome]

On 03/01/2015 at 2:26 AM, C T said:

HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche details here the process by which delusion arises, remains, is reinforced, and also, how it can be cut at the root. (courtesy of L. Thundrup)

 

 

"The most primary basis for clinging to the notion of self is the aggregate of form—that is, the body. When this body undergoes various experiences, we perceive some things as pleasant and desire them. Other things are perceived as unpleasant, and we want to get rid of them. This corresponds to the second aggregate, feeling. The third aggregate is discrimination. We start to discriminate between what is pleasant and what is unpleasant. The fourth aggregate is impulse. Once we have identified something as being pleasant, desire for it arises. At the same time, we want to get rid of whatever is unpleasant and try to accomplish this in various ways. What actually experiences the ensuing feelings of satisfaction or misery is consciousness, the fifth aggregate. Consciousness itself has five aspects, related to sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. Prior to these five aspects and underlying them at all times, there is a basic, undetermined ground consciousness, which corresponds to a vague perception of the outer world and of existence, an awareness that “there is a world out there.”

 

 

It is to all these aggregates coming together that we attach the notion of a self. As a result the aggregates become intimately linked with suffering. However, when we try to investigate these different elements, one by one, they cannot withstand analysis. They have no shape, no color, no location. We cannot determine where they come from, where they remain, and where they go. In no way do they constitute autonomous entities.

 

 

In truth, the notion of self we attach to the aggregates is a mere mental fabrication, a label put on something that does not exist. People who wear tinted glasses or suffer from a visual impairment would see a white conch as yellow, even though the conch has never been anything but white. In the same way, our deluded minds attribute reality to something that is utterly non-existent.

 

This is what we call ignorance: not recognising the void nature of phenomena and assuming that phenomena possess the attribute of true existence although in fact they are devoid of it. With ignorance comes attachment to all that is pleasant to the ego as well as hatred and repulsion for all that is unpleasant. In that way the three poisons—ignorance, attachment, and hatred—come into being. Under the influence of these three poisons, the mind becomes like a servant running here and there. This is how the suffering of samsara is built up. It all derives from a lack of discernment and a distorted perception of the nature of phenomena.

 

 

Because of this distortion, some people perceive samsara as quite a happy place. They don’t realise that it is pervaded with suffering. They imagine that the body is something exceedingly beautiful and desirable. They don’t see that when investigated, it is found to be composed of rather foul substances. In this erroneous ways of seeing things, we take suffering for happiness and perceive the impermanent world as permanent. We thus labour under four main misconceptions: believing that phenomena are pure when they are not; misconstruing suffering for happiness; considering phenomena to be permanent when they are transitory; and imagining that there is a self abiding in the midst of all this, when there is none to be found.

 

 

These are the roots of afflictive mental states, the kleshas. To counteract them, we have to establish clearly the empty nature of the eight consciousnesses [the all-ground consciousness, the defiled mental consciousness, the mental cognition, and the five cognitions of sight, sound, scent, taste, and touch], the five aggregates [the physical and mental constituents of a sentient being: form, feeling, discrimination, impulse, and consciousness], the five elements [earth, air, water, fire, and space], and all phenomena, so that we correctly perceive their true nature, which is devoid of intrinsic existence.

 

 

There are different ways to come to such a conclusion and experience it directly. We may undertake a whole course of study, reflection, and meditation, which gives rise to a clear understanding of the relative and absolute truth. Or we may apprehend it directly through contemplative practice, and recognize through our own experience the dream-like nature of phenomena, which is the way of the yogis. These teachings help us to progress in both ways, through a logical investigation of mind and through experiencing and integrating the result of this investigation through meditation.

 

 

Let’s now examine this object. If we begin by examining a human body to which we are attached, we acknowledge that it is made up of the five aggregates (skandhas) of form, feeling, discrimination, impulse, and consciousness.

 

 

The first one, the aggregate of form, is the foundation for the other four, just as the earth is the supporting ground for all the mountains, forests, and lakes upon it. There are several aspects of this aggregate of form, but here we will investigate the one related to the human body.

 

 

It is because we cling to the entity of a body that even a tiny prick from a thorn makes us miserable. When there is warm sunshine outside, we feel comfortable and the body is pleased. We are constantly preoccupied with the comfort and attractiveness of our body and treat it like the most precious thing. Clinging to the body is the reason we experience such reactions to the pleasant and the unpleasant.

 

 

To eradicate this clinging, we have to examine what the body is really made of. Let’s imagine that like a surgeon, we cut a body open and separate all its major constituents—the blood, the flesh, the bones, the fat, the five main internal organs, the four limbs. If we consider these components separately, not a single one looks clean or pure. Taken one by one, each of the components does not seem at all appealing. The whole body is just a collection of rather disgusting parts, formed of the five elements. The flesh corresponds to the earth element, the blood and the other fluids correspond to the water element, the breath corresponds to the wind element, our body warmth corresponds to the fire element, and the cavities within the body correspond to the space element.

 

 

One of the main ways to decrease or eliminate our attachment to the body is to examine the various parts of the body one by one. When we conduct such an examination of a human body, where has the object of our attachment gone? What is left for us to be attached to? We should keep examining each part more and more minutely until we reach the point where we cannot find the object of our attachment. At that point, the attachment itself just vanishes.

 

 

Unavoidably we come to the conclusion that the body does not truly exist. We have then recognised the void nature of our body and of all forms. When this state of understanding is reached, we simply rest for a while in the equanimity of this recognition. When a thought arises within this state, we repeat the same investigation.

 

 

Once it has been fully grasped that this “body” is empty of true existence, we can easily understand that it is the same with our “name” and with the “mind” made up of the thoughts that go through our consciousness.

 

 

In investigating the nature of phenomena, there are Four Seals or main points we should understand: (1) All things are compounded; that is, they are an assemblage of multiple elements instead of being unitary entities. (2) They are therefore impermanent and (3) are linked with suffering. (4) They are devoid of self-identity.

 

 

As for impermanence, we have a very strong feeling that our body, our mind, our name, and our ego are all permanent. This leads to strong clinging. So to gain certainty in the realisation that all phenomena are utterly transitory is very important. It is like when a thief is unmasked and everyone learns his identity: he then becomes completely powerless to fool anyone, since all are aware of his mischievous nature. The thief can no longer harm anyone. In the same way, if we recognise that everything is impermanent—the universe as well as our thoughts—then naturally we will turn our backs on the objects of our grasping and embrace the dharma as the only thing that can really benefit us.

 

 

Regarding the truth of suffering, we need to recognise that suffering is the condition of all phenomena pertaining to relative truth. Whatever is linked to the five aggregates is intimately connected with suffering. This is because grasping at the aggregates leads to the arising of the five mental poisons (kleshas)— hatred, desire, delusion, pride, and jealousy—which themselves are the causes of nothing but suffering. Even though we may enjoy some kind of temporary happiness in samsara, close inspection reveals that we have often achieved this happiness at the expense of others, or even through harming others, by cheating, stealing, and the like. In behaving like this, although we experience a fleeting happiness, at the same time we are creating causes for our future misery. It is like eating plants that are tasty but poisonous. We may savor them for a few moments, but soon afterward we will die. It is the same for all enjoyments that are linked with negative actions. Once we realise this, we no longer take pleasure in samsaric life, and our desire for it is completely exhausted. This leads to a strong wish to renounce our attachment to worldly affairs and our addiction to the causes of suffering.

 

 

The final one of the four points is about the negative consequence of clinging to the self and the recognition that phenomena are devoid of self-identity. All of the first three points boil down to grasping at self, the main cause of suffering in samsara. Once we latch onto the concepts of “I” and “mine,” anything that seems to threaten that “self”—or an extension of it, such as friends and relatives—is identified as an “enemy.” This leads to craving, hatred, and lack of discernment, the basic causes of samsara.

 

How did this happen at all? It happened because of our mental process, the chain of thoughts. For instance, the thought comes to your mind, “I shall leave my retreat and go into town,” and you follow it. You go into town and perform all kinds of actions there, accumulating a great deal of karma. If, at the moment the thought first arose, it had occurred to you, “There is no point in going to town,” the sequence of thoughts would have been interrupted and all the impulses that followed would have never have occurred. Nothing will happen at all. The cause of delusion is the linking of thoughts, one thought leading to the other and forming a garland of thoughts. We need to free ourselves from these automatic processes.

 

 

This is the reason for these teachings, which are like a spinning wheel of lucid investigation of the nature of discursive thoughts and the ego. After paying attention to the teacher’s words, we should also put them into practice and investigate thoroughly our thoughts and our psychophysical aggregates, until we gain a true certainty about their nature.

 

 

Until now, we had the strong conviction that the self exists as a separate entity. With the help of these teachings, we can now achieve a strong and firm conviction that the ego has no true existence. This will lead to the gradual disappearance of afflictive emotions and thoughts.

 

 

In turn, this will lead to mastering the mind. In our ordinary condition, when a thought of hatred arises, we have no idea how to deal with it. We let that thought grow and become stronger. This could eventually lead us to seize a weapon and go to war. It all began with a thought, nothing more. Look at the succession of thoughts that lead to full-blown hatred: The past thoughts are dead and gone. The present thoughts will soon vanish. There is nothing graspable in either of them. So if we examine the thoughts in depth, we cannot find anything truly existing in them. Under scrutiny, they vanish like a big heap of grass set ablaze. Nothing will be left of it.

 

 

We really must verify for ourselves that whatever thought comes into our mind has never acquired any true existence: thoughts are never born, they never dwell as something truly existing, and they have nowhere to go when they disappear from our mind.

 

Unless we come to a clear understanding of this, why talk about things like the “primordial purity of the Great Perfection” or the “innate wisdom of the Mahamudra”? None of these will help, so long as we perceive phenomena in a deluded way.

 

 

We have spoken of the main ways in which we distort reality: by assuming that conditioned phenomena are endowed with true existence; that fleeting phenomena are permanent; that samsara is generally imbued with happiness despite the pervasiveness of suffering; and that there could ever be such a thing as an autonomous, truly existing self.

 

 

Now we have to replace these distorted perceptions with accurate ways of thinking. Instead of being convinced that there is a self-entity, we realise that self is a mere concept. We should get used to this and impress it on our minds. To achieve this, we must investigate with determined effort the nonexistence of the self until we have covered every aspect of the analysis. Then, like someone who has finally completed an exhausting journey after painstakingly walking over a long distance, we can completely relax in the natural, open state of mind. Without entertaining any thoughts, we simply rest in equanimity for a while.

 

 

After we have recovered our mental strength, thoughts will return. Instead of falling under their influence, apply the same investigation over again, and remain clearly mindful of the nonexistence of the self. This will result in a genuine and powerful realisation of the absence of a truly existing self.

 

 

There are two aspects of mindfulness: first, to remember what causes suffering and needs to be avoided, and what brings happiness and needs to be accomplished; and second, to be constantly vigilant lest we fall under the power of delusion. If we mechanically follow our wandering thoughts instead of remembering to investigate our mind, afflictive emotions such as craving and hatred will rise up strongly. Whenever these assail your mind, you should react just as if you had seen an enemy coming at you: Lift the weapon of mindfulness and resume your investigation of the mind.

 

 

Simply by turning on the light, you can instantly destroy the darkness. Likewise, even a rather simple analysis of ego-clinging and afflictive emotions can make them collapse. By suppression we may temporarily subdue our afflictive emotions, but only an investigation of their true nature will completely eradicate them.

 

 

 

The Measure of Progress

 

Once this is accomplished, a great happiness will settle in the mind. As soon as we notice deluded thoughts arising in relation to conditioned phenomena, generating the scorching heat of samsara, we will recognise the unsurpassable, supreme, unconditioned nature of nirvana, which bestows a cooling, pacifying shade.

 

 

Following our analysis, we should check whether or not the practice has taken birth within us. Having pursued this investigation over and over again, we naturally arrive at a genuine understanding that all our aggregates, like all phenomena, are molded by numberless fleeting causes and conditions. They are compounded things, so that if we take them apart there is nothing left such as a “body” or any of the other entities whose existence we are so convinced of. We will know without doubt that there are no permanent phenomena, since everything changes at every moment.

 

 

We will also know that all phenomena are linked with suffering, and that various ways of assuming the existence of a “self” are all groundless. Thus we will have thoroughly integrated these Four Seals of the Buddha’s teaching into our understanding. From then on, our mindfulness will come naturally and we won’t have to exert so much effort to maintain it. This achievement comes from the power of gaining confidence in the fact that phenomena are devoid of true, inherent existence. A great master once declared that the solidity of the phenomenal world will start to collapse even if one simply begins to doubt that phenomena truly exist and merely glimpses the fact that emptiness is the nature of all phenomena and appearances.

 

When we begin to win the struggle to free ourselves from the waves of afflictive emotions, the mind will become like a calm and vast lake. This peaceful state, the natural tranquility of mind, will lead to deep samadhi [concentration], which is the pacification of wandering, deluded thoughts."

 

 

It's a rather extreme view on the body, but everyone has their way of dealing  with it. For me it should suffice to know that the body dies and that we cannot cling to it forever, and have to eventually find a permanent abode in contrast to the temporary one that the body is.