Non dual Buddhism

[Mark Foote]

On 5/27/2020 at 10:59 AM, Apech said:

 

I would like to suggest that 'process of removal' - is a letting go of what isn't actually there.

 

Now I don't mean to go all fuzzy and say - well we're all buddhas already so there's nothing to do (and all that shit) because that is actually unhelpful.  For me its more about readdressing the process we are undertaking as Buddhists (or probably Bon and Daoist for that matter) to see it in a light which actually makes it work a little better(?) , easier (?) - or even kinder ...

 

I'm trying to be more Zhentong and less Prasangika less skeptical.  But I realise at the same time I am struggling to make sense.
 

I can't speak to the Tibetan heritage, but hopefully there are some things that are present in all the traditions (out of India).  

I wrote an "About" page for my own website recently, that refers to a three-some that seems to recur:

 

"Making self surrender the object of thought, one lays hold of concentration, one lays hold of one-pointedness of mind.
 

(SN V 200, Pali Text Society V 176)

 

(The three-some is) how the experience of one-pointedness of mind takes place, how a person “lays hold” of one-pointedness of mind, and how the elements Gautama made the object of his thought belong to self-surrender. "

Dogen put it this way, in "Genjo Koan":

When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point. When you find your way at this moment, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point… Although actualized immediately, the inconceivable may not be apparent.

And I would describe it like this:

"what remains (when volition and habit in the movement of breath drops away) is one-pointedness of mind, centrifugal and centripetal force at the location of mind, and the action of inhalation or exhalation."

The source of the centripetal force is in all of the senses, including equalibrioception, graviception, and proprioception, and also in what lies beyond the boundaries of the senses.  What lies beyond can only be accessed by extending the mind of friendliness (compassion, etc.) beyond the walls, and around the world.  
 

"The Vimalakirti Sutra says, ‘Suddenly all at once, we return to original mind’. And the Bodhisattva Precept Sutra says, ‘Our original nature is pure’. Good friends, see the fundamental purity of your own nature. Cultivate and put to work for yourselves the Dharma body of your own nature."
 

(“The Platform Sutra–The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng”, translated by Red Pine 2006)

That would be, realize one-pointedness of mind and lay hold of it, inhalation to exhalation and exhalation to inhalation.  When what's beyond the walls is involved in laying hold of it, it's the "dharma body of your own nature" that acts.  Still, there is the spirit in the movement of breath, the inconceivable that may be actualized immediately.

Another way of saying it, that seems to be helping me along.

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Mark Foote

[Mark Foote]

The fundamentals of experiencing one-pointedness of mind, as described by koun Franz:

 

"Okay... So, have your hands in the cosmic mudra, palms up, thumbs touching, and there's this common instruction: place your mind here. Different people interpret this differently. Some people will say this means to place your attention here, meaning to keep your attention on your hands. It's a way of turning the lens to where you are in space so that you're not looking out here and out here and out here. It's the positive version, perhaps, of "navel gazing.

The other way to understand this is to literally place your mind where your hands are--to relocate mind (let's not say your mind) to your centre of gravity, so that mind is operating from a place other than your brain. Some traditions take this very seriously, this idea of moving your consciousness around the body. I wouldn't recommend dedicating your life to it, but as an experiment, I recommend trying it, sitting in this posture and trying to feel what it's like to let your mind, to let the base of your consciousness, move away from your head. One thing you'll find, or that I have found, at least, is that you can't will it to happen, because you're willing it from your head. To the extent that you can do it, it's an act of letting go--and a fascinating one."

“No Struggle (Zazen Yojinki, Part 6)”, by Koun Franz, from Koun’s “Nyoho Zen” site:
https:// nyoho.com/2018/09/15/no-struggle-zazen-yojinki-part-6/

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Mark Foote

[Mark Foote]

The Early Record