[some selection, almost zero editing: posted here as archive]
The autumn air is clear, / The autumn moon is bright. / Fallen leaves gather and scatter, / The jackdaw perches and starts anew. / We think of each other – when will we meet? / This hour, this night, my feelings are hard. — Li Bai (701-762)
Being capable of a certain kind of cognition or a certain degree of awareness is not the same as applying that to oneself – behaviors, habits, values, beliefs, ideals. Or indeed, to one’s practice itself. Turning the light of attention around has never been easy or comfortable.
RIP Harold Budd.
“The primary value of the Grand Tour lay in its exposure to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionably polite society of the European continent.”
“All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!” — Camille Paglia
Goal(s) can do different things. Goal as an end will focus & limit one’s awareness. Goal as an aim will enable one to find or rectify direction. Goal as purpose will put us exactly where we are. In different contexts, each of these may be appropriate. Choose wisely, fail better.
Godspeed 2020!
On this Christmas, a prayer for those who do what must be done, whether through selfless service or bold dissent, or as voices of integrity and wisdom, or as lights in the dark. They give of themselves every day, often at a heavy cost. Without them, the rest of us are lost.
2021
A year is what you make of it. How was your 2020?
The importance of being sanctimonious is ridiculously underrated.
Dalmatian lockout.
Western cultures, developmentally speaking, are going through an intensifying review phase.
Frailty, sickness, death. Powerful allies or dreadful foes?
It’s easy to despise in another what one refuses to face in oneself.
Homage to the luminous unwavering state, free of elaborations.
Daily news now approaching the combined output of Machiavelli, de Sade, Ionesco, Marquez, Kharms, Beckett, Kafka and Adams. Dread the day when Burroughs joins in.
Why do you follow me on Twitter? Asking for myself.
Let the whole great universe quiver, tremble, quake, wobble, rock, sway, vibrate, shudder, and reel. Let great lightning flashes strike, let the gods cause the sound of drums to be heard. Let me take refuge.
Balance of devotion & humor is key. It gives birth to twin virtues of confidence & courage in face of inner hesitation & outer intimidation, which operate by triggering survival instincts & bypassing conscience. Whatever happens, one must live with oneself.
“Making the world a better place” has become an unfailing symptom of heroic self-inflation, a transparent promotional ruse, and a meta-virtue signalling device. It may be what others risk saying at your funeral, not the motto of your business or organisation. Just do what you do.
As exemplary lean Dharma, Heart sūtra reveals the radical meaning of “no pain, no gain.” Moreover, does same with WYSIWYG for all experience, “fear no evil” for result, plus “say it as it is” as chosen method of practice. Also manifests as stunning goddess. All in one page.
In 1970, in the earlier days of Buddhism in the West, a tipsy master coined “spiritual materialism” as a dire danger, something to “cut through.” It was a cautionary tale. Fast forward 50 years and it’s the flagship of Buddhism “making itself accessible.” Bless you, Rinpoche.
Fourth wall is a concept in acting performance and movies. There is no such wall in contemplative practice, yet some introduce it, and some methods, as presented, encourage it. Don’t watch yourself watching yourself. Tear down the wall.
Note to practitioners everywhere. Be careful lest the cure is also the poison. (*If going at it alone, have a solid understanding of what does what.)
Few things can be used against you as your respectability and comity.
Know your boogeyman.
“They make a desert, and call it peace.” — Calcagus in Tacitus’ Agricola … There are methods of meditation to which this martial observation applies.
Decades of practice & depth of practice are not the same. Not unrelated, yet separate. Decades of relative shallowness & inconsistency are common. Depth born of longterm practice less so. Depth before decades is rare, talent & hard work notwithstanding. And then there’s scope.
If seeking freedom & peace, one cannot skip renunciation, namely outgrowing the dictate of basic urges. As method & stage, it’s not optional. As goal & orientation, it’s valid yet limited. But it’s universal. Make sure to look at these issues in proper context.
Devotion is the essence of the simple (pureland) and the complex approach (tantra). Also strong in trad Theravāda & Zen. It reverses attention from absorbed navel-gazing to a spacious acceptance of & engagement with everything. Tiresome self-obsession won’t meditate itself away.
If there’s a single important Buddhist contribution for troubled times, it ain’t moderation, or mindfulness, not even compassion, important as they are. It’s valiant self-reliance in body, speech, and mind.
Social distancing, but no privacy.
It is accepted that humans cannot stand too much suffering and/or reality. But it’s not accepted that too little suffering and/or reality drives humans insane. The accepted notion of sanity is obviously broken.
Experience is erotic. Mind is passionate. Heart is aching. This was never a problem. Experience is also terrifying. Mind is also an unrelenting mess. Heart is also treacherous. Hence, problem.
An important aspect of sense making is that sense making has a limit, no matter what. Do not fear what lies beyond.
Quelle horreur! My antediluvian .info website became nsfw after i moved to hokai dot eu, abandoning the old domain to internet vultures. Be warned, those who may wish to link, update url.
“I saw … no holiness, no devotion, no good work or exemplary life … among the clergy; instead, lust, avarice, gluttony, fraud, envy, pride.” — The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)
Call me naive, but to my mind, the mere existence of billionaires is obscene. No matter who or how or what or where.
Dhāraṇī is ubiquitous in Mahāyāna. Few modern teachers explain its functions, or instruct the practice. Dhāraṇī covers a range of contextual meanings from retention & recall to incantation & spell.
“Stoicism is self-tyranny.” — Friedrich Nietzsche Partially, yet importantly, true. As a measured method, stoicism is useful and salutary, indeed necessary. As a comprehensive approach, it’s a dead end. Hence, tyranny.
What happens when the path to ten percent happier is ten percent shittier? Or vice versa.
“Intellectually orgiastic.” An expression I haven’t heard in a long time.
“Mañjuśrī’s Magical Display” in fresh translation, featuring god Great Light, as well as a cameo appearance of Māra himself. Text was a chartbuster among Indian bodhisattvas in the golden age of Mahāyāna.
初心 shoshin. First intention or original purpose. Also, first awareness, fresh mind, beginner mind, implying openness, eagerness, curiosity without preconception. It’s basecamp, not a stage in practice.
On Dharma transmission by Zen master Muhō Nölke: “…when you receive shihō after, say, eight or nine years, you will have sat for 15,000 hours of zazen with your teacher. Not only that, you also shared many thousands of meals with him, worked together in the fields for thousands of hours, spread manure, cut grass and wood together, side by side, you sweat together in the summer and froze together in the winter. You cooked for him and filled the bath tub for him, you know how he likes the temperature both of his soup and the bathing water. You also shared many drinks, probably. In each of these activities, the Dharma is transmitted. None should be left out.” Just so, none should be left out./
“Spiritual” and “religious” have been abused & molested in a variety of ways in different quarters. Definitions cancel each other in predictable ways. But let’s play a game, pretending it ain’t so, allowing for some sense and good faith. Where *do you* place the real?
When in Rome, time for food porn. Ossobuco (cross-cut veal shank braised with veggies and white vine) with gremolata on top and a three grains side by yours truly. One of my favorites.
“Kūkai” (空海) from 1984, a movie by Junya Satō (RIP). Watched it only recently with Russian subtitles, made better English subs just for fun, and now working on Croatian, just in time for Kukai’s birthday on June 15. Namu Daishi Henjō Kongō!
“Amateur” is used to mean unprofessional and/or unpaid, but also incompetent. Yet it means lover, devotee, or enthusiast, similar to aficionado. If you’re an amateur practitioner, don’t feel bad about it. Commitment and competence arise from engaging heartily and honestly.
A culture that refuses to ritualize its bacchic frenzied drives ends up eating itself alive. An important function of spirituality is to establish and cultivate “spaces of exception” in a variety of ways, where possibilities are open and unrestrained by social demands.
“The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss – an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. – is sure to be noticed.” — Søren Kierkegaard
Outsourcing some or much of sense making is inevitable, unless you live a sequestered life. It’s only a problem when it’s mindless, accidental and opportunistic. Please consider the following. Where do you outsource sense making? Who to? Why? To what purpose?
According to “thus have I heard” story, Siddhartha Gautama was not an early starter. Gifted yes, but it took him awhile to get started, and he had *a lot* to undo. Also, his path was not one straight arrow at all. This fact is often neglected. And it’s genuinely heartening.
Truth does not “always win” in the long run. What is, does. Be true.
“Keep alive something that might otherwise disappear.” Invested some time lately with this simple phrase, having it inform how to live, relate and practice. There’s a lot more there than I can fathom. It’s deep, rich & rewarding.
“Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. It presupposes faith and love. Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.” — Simone Weil
Contemplative practice & psychedelics do not overlap in *any special, intrinsic way.* Not any more than intimacy or art or nature or ascesis etc. Yet in emaciated cultures, to alienated selves, any glimpse into depth will be seen as analogous, like any food to a starving person.
On the ancient Greek Antikythera Mechanism, and attempts to reconstruct it. Of course, behind it looms Parmenides of Elea, “father of metaphysics” and “father of logic” and much more.
Faith is useless if left untested.
Everything gets hijacked eventually.
Attachment is healthy or unhealthy, or mixed bag. Same with anger, anxiety, depression etc. That is, adaptive or maladaptive. Medicating or meditating them out of existence just bc they arise is insane. Whether healthy or unhealthy, there’s wisdom to be found therein.
Groups & cultures are a matter of deliberate complicity at every level. No individual training & education, no degree of talent & interest, no level of skill & expertise, no motivation & ambition, will substitute for shared values, shared purpose, and shared code of conduct.
The realm of phenomena is alive and well, despite appearances. Have a good Sun Day!
A sure sign of a path is threefold. First, engagement & acceptance become synonymous. Second, advancing & returning are reconciled. Third, doubts are resolved, one way or another, as exploration opens in unexpected directions.
To get somewhere with anything, one must commit, thus renouncing the bogus freedom to change mind or change course whenever it becomes too much (or too little, or whatever). Stick to it, have faith, persevere, generate momentum. Keep going, looking, learning. That said, avoid rigidity. Be sensible & sensitive to your body. Cultivate a sense of balanced effort, with gentle perseverance. Same with emotional challenges, that are unavoidable. If you cannot relax with something, just pushing harder won’t help. Be kind./
Buddhist yānas differ by view and method, but a point that has not been sufficiently raised is how strongly they differ in their treatment of arts, aesthetics, and symbolism in general. A slow thread. Early forms of Buddhism were strongly renunciative, almost aniconic in visual sense, but nonetheless produced a large scriptural canon, replete with imagery, metaphor & allegory. Simple rituals arose during Buddha’s life. Depicted: Buddha’s footprint, sun wheel, three gems. Even modern vipassana retains a marked disinterest in arts, which remains the strongest evidence of its roots. Its aesthetics usually frugal, clean & simple, encouraging & suggesting detachment, which speaks as loud as teachings themselves. Arts developed slowly and gradually until exploding in Gandharan Greco-Buddhist art at the gates of Silk Road, making way for nascent Mahāyāna and later Vajrayāna intense involvement in arts. Along with sculpture, painting, architecture, this period gave rise to sacred songs and dances, which all quickly spread eastwards. Other artistic strongholds were Eastern and Southern India, as well as Java, Sumatra etc. Buddhism reached China from 1st and 2nd century AD, and quickly became known as 像教 xiang jiao, the teaching of [many] images, descriptive of both Mahāyāna and later Vajrayāna. Pic: Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, oldest dated printed book AD 868. Buddhadharma is expressed in ¹sounds (speech, writing, music etc.), ²images (drawings, prints, carvings etc.), ³symbols (shapes, hues, objects etc.), and ⁴actions in any medium at any scale ‐ all of these may be external or internal, deliberate or spontaneous. Art is upāya. History of Mahāyāna & Vajrayāna is both a history of texts & practices, as well as a history of many arts, often by best artists of the time. Quite a few classical masters were great artists or innovators or craftsmen themselves. East or West, same story. With Mahāyāna, art reveals mind & matter, appearance & emptiness, object & subject. With Vajrayāna, art is a potent practice of weaving the discrete & displaying the formless, thus enacting five elements and revealing luminous presence. Most importantly, it’s for everyone. No art like sacred art. No kitsch like sacred kitsch. Garden buddhas, pop dharmas, decoration thangkas, exhibitions & museums & collections. Dead art is dead Dharma. Art is alive, like Dharma. Find art that speaks to you & start doing art, that’s practice. It can be soothing or shocking, elaborate or simple. Art is not to impress, nor to express. Like Dharma – to engage, discover, appreciate, enjoy, and release. /
Avoidable suffering can lead to a better life, if – and only if – one can change behavior or circumstances & knows how to. Unavoidable suffering can lead to awakening, if – and only if – it is embraced & engaged in full awareness. In both, one has to be willing, of course.
An important function of multiple languages & cultural streams in an increasingly global system is the metabolizing – instead of metastasizing – of local bad ideas, reducing their global impact, as well as adapting & diversifying the good ones. Could be optimized.
A question for Western Buddhists, Buddhist Westerners, Buddhists in the West etc. If u could improve, fix, change or remake *one thing* in Western Buddhism, what would that be? One thing u’d love to see more of, less of, or just different. (Trust the first that comes to mind.)
Semiotic siblings: χαρακτηρ, charaktēr (exact image, likeness, as in God’s image), contrast with χάραγμα (charagma, stamp or imprint, mark as in mark of the beast). Mūdra (seal, sign, as in awareness-seal, jñānamūdra, or great seal, mahāmūdra), contrast with nimitta, lakshana.
From without, Buddhist forms are still a “transplanted” element in the Western cultural ecology. They best justify their presence through radical potentials, those untapped or forsaken by established Western approaches. Hybridization is the worst outcome for both guest & host.
Loss of mythic structures correlates with impotence in the long game.
Practice in any form is repeated exposure. Implicitly, an ongoing act of confession & consent. So it’s like a conversation, intimation, confiding, disclosure, unveiling. In short, a relationship.
Goodhart’s law: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” Apply this to hows and whys of practice. Making progress sounds good in the abstract, yet how you define it can easily get in the way. Learn to clarify purpose, method, effects, and results.
Absent religious puritans and fanatics, pseudo-religious ones fill the void.
Hidden materialist or physicalist assumptions are widespread among modern practitioners. And few actually see it as a problem that won’t go away without considerable engagement & digestion. A simple idealist switcheroo won’t help.
Mastering a corrupt discipline makes one an expert at nonsense.
Almost everything in Western culture wars is Christianity having a nervous breakdown, wounding its body in a desperate attempt to heal the spirit.
Techno metaphors for “mind” and “brain” – such as dashboard, interface, simulation, software, hardware, operating system etc – are not the new poetry, they’re not even true metaphors, but mere analogies, reductive at best. Living beings are not machines or artefacts.
When clarity on worldly issues isn’t obtainable, try hilarity. In fact, do it anyway.
Was asked about the script here in profile. It’s Glagolitic, used from 9th to early 20th century, the oldest known Slavic alphabet. Specifically, the Croatian or Angular Glagolitic in this case.
Happy Easter to everyone!
Culture wars are accelerating, because reality can’t wait. Btw, concept of culture *war* is misleading. I think of it as autoimmune disease, even though, as they say in medical context, cause is generally unknown. Strenghten foundations, clean up your act, be creative & adaptive.
The proverbial benefit of hindsight isn’t much of a benefit if one cannot articulate what happened. Attention is scarce, so it happens a lot.
Merry Christmas.
Best wishes and a Better New Year to everyone!
2022
Homage to intrepid compassion, free from disgust or agitation.
No need to go where it is difficult. Go where you are afraid of going.
It waxes and wanes.
What one holds dear and what one holds sacred are commonly not the exact same. There’s the rub.
As meditation is looking, and prayer is listening, so ritual is touching, study is smelling, and living by vows is tasting. Practice, then, is ‘common sense’ in its old meaning.
Any solid map of awakening is useful for understanding how path unfolds in a generalized manner. Also inadequate as substitute for a keen sense of where one is with specific challenges & capacities. Get clear on those & work with what you have. It’s feature, not bug.
It barely matters which doxa or praxis or ethos is dispensed with or emphasized. Unless there’s a compelling new aesthetic, nothing really happens. And there is none.
“Are we still unable to see that man’s conscious mind is even more devilish and perverse than the unconscious?” — C. G. Jung
Overheard myself saying: Most problems are caused by incomplete exhalations. Somewhat right.
Space and clarity are to insight as silence and sound are to music.
“Whoever deceives is more just than whoever does not deceive and whoever is deceived is wiser than whoever is not deceived.” – Gorgias the Trickster
Elrond: “Ónen i-estel edain.” (I give hope to men). / Aragorn: “Ú-chebin estel anim.” (I keep none for myself.)
Soak in silence / To heal senses / Drink devotion / To restore sanity / And be grateful / For such graces…
To whom it may concern: No spots available in mentoring for the rest of 2022. A waitlist is now open for registration through the regular contact form.
Bodhisattva is an awakening *sentient* being.
A conceptual descent from soul to mind to body in society has close to nothing in common with descent of awareness along the same path in individuals, commonly *after* an ascent has been accomplished. The resulting modes of being in the world are incomparable.
Basic goodness is not a social construct. Nor a biological thingy. It’s empty, yet also not empty.
– Do you like our owl? – It’s artificial? – Of course it is. – Must be expensive. – Very. I’m Rachael. – Deckard. 40 yrs ago, like yesterday.
How to identify genuine Dharma? Clarity/urgency in faith & virtue, depth/verticality in method & outlook, release from reactivity & confusion, peace beyond conceptions. One missing is bad enough. These are related to four seals of Dharma, also three trainings & their result.
According to Recollection of Dharma, the sacred Dharma is – well expounded – to be examined – timeless and immediate – to be seen for oneself – to be experienced for oneself – to be realized for oneself These are routinely memorized.
In teaching Dharma, instruction is secondary to example. In learning Dharma, aptitude is secondary to motivation. In practicing Dharma, effects are secondary to efforts.
How to reliably evaluate oneself? Regular feedback from trusted others. Attention to periphery of awareness (spot aberrant behaviors, non-medical symptoms). Know what you’re afraid of (at least be actively curious). Write. Be honest. There’s more, but that’s a good start.
On philosophy: necessity, adequacy, coherence. Necessity is not stating the requisite, while ignoring the obvious – awareness. Adequacy not possible w/out establishing the limits of conceptual scope. Coherence isn’t merely logical, but also practical – what it results in. There.
Śamatha is relative and temporary alignment of attention, thought, emotion, instinct, sensation. Śamatha methods are many & diverse, some nonobvious, like prayer. It is not, however, an end in itself. Once aligned, one can sense precisely, aim accurately, and reflect clearly. Outcomes or rewards of śamatha are varied. Stillness, inner silence, sense of balance, mental & physical pliability, brightness, clarity, smoothness, wellbeing, content etc. arise during or between practice sessions, often after their opposites surface to be resolved. Best learned supervised & practiced in relative isolation with carefully upheld routines, involving postures, diets, settings, activity etc. Cathartic events common. Once established, it becomes fairly accessible. Yet, there’s also a strong individual propensity factor. Buddhist schools of thought & styles of practice differ in emphasis & interpretation of śamatha, as they do with traditional cosmology & phenomenology. Always better to have the yāna framework in mind when making sense of different aspects of path, such as three trainings./
Recall what you loved when you were 7 or 12. Where are such loves now? What happened? Do they play a role in your life & practice & work? If so, have they grown? Grown old & tired, or grown wider & deeper & brighter with time-tested curiosity? Would your story fit in a tweet?
Who you need to be now is revealed by who you wish to die as. How you do that is mostly a matter of staying course. If informed by *what* you are, it’s the only way to be anyhow.
“Study of Buddha Way is study of self; study of self is forgetting self; forgetting self is being actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, one’s body-mind as well as others’ body-mind drop away. No trace of realization remains and this no trace continues endlessly.” Dōgen Zenji 道元禅師 (1200-1253) It’s all about experience and awareness as path, not ontology or metaphysics, or notions. Body as experience, mind as experience. Study as awareness. Forgetting and drop away as experience. Actualized and realisation as awareness. No trace, experience. Continuing as awareness./
“Saṃsāra is notorious for being without end.” — Gampopa
In the world, but not of the world – a noble orientation. How about *with* the world? With *a* world? There’s world as convention, there’s world as experience, and the two shall never be one, except they’re both like dreams.
Whatever spirits have gathered here, — on the earth, in the sky —let us pay homage to the Buddha, the Tathagata worshipped by beings human & divine. May there be well-being. Whatever spirits have gathered here,— on the earth, in the sky — let us pay homage to the Dhamma & the Tathagata worshipped by beings human & divine. May there be well-being. Whatever spirits have gathered here,— on the earth, in the sky — let us pay homage to the Sangha & the Tathagata worshipped by beings human & divine.May there be well-being. Ratana Sutta from Sutta Nipata/
Consistent formal practice of meditation is the bone marrow of spiritual health. Just so, devotion is the heart and lungs.
Lineages differ on bare essentials of view, meditation, and conduct at any stage of path, kinda Backpack Dharma, a less is more approach. Know your checklist. Those who venture off track will have a bespoke version based on experience, yet everyone has a first aid kit. BSTS
A peaceful arhat chanting mantras, attended by a fierce demon with a sword. Quite a pair.
Bodhisattvas may have an associated icon-animal. For Samantabhadra (All-Good), it’s a six-tusked elephant (power of six pāramitās). For Mañjuśrī kumārabhūta (Gentle Glorious, youthful prince) it’s a lion, here in playful mode. Wisdom as playful curiosity joined with learning.
Homage to the luminous unwavering state, free of elaborations.
More often than not, those of us believed to be in the know, or in some reputed position, really have no idea. Or no deep understanding. Or no willingness to step out of our comfort zone. Most people do their best, and it shows, for better or worse. Few excel, support them.
Radical subjectivity is the path.
Religious faith isn’t going anywhere. It’s just become a matter of personal responsibility.
Devotion is an attitude, an ethos, a practice, and a path. Not a feeling.
Many ways to resolve doubts. None painless.
Small is beautiful. Simple is powerful. Subtle is meaningful.
Awe & wonder are to inner life as necessity & practicality are to outer life. Signs of life without which obstacles arise endlessly. Good news is they’re not unrelated, as both inner & outer signs of life are predicated on curiosity. Nurture curiosity, revisit basics.
Ritual or ceremony, when properly done, celebrates the timeless in the confines of purpose and occasion. In some, it fosters a humble deference. In others, it exposes rigidity or hubris. For everyone, it gives expression to what otherwise remains tacit or forgotten.
For generosity, nothing to do, / Other than stop fixating on self. / For morality, nothing to do, / Other than stop being dishonest. / For patience, nothing to do, / Other than not fear what is ultimately true. / For effort, nothing to do, / Other than practice continuously. / For meditative stability, nothing to do, / Other than rest in presence. / For wisdom, nothing to do, / Other than know directly how things are. — Milarepa / Translation by @kenmcleod … “Nothing to do, other than” is an exquisite rendering, whimsical and sharp at once. Superior to the earlier translation. In the source text, Milarepa continues with explaining pāramitās 7-10, namely method, power, aspiration, and pristine awareness./
Confucius (孔夫子; Kong Fūzi, Master Kong; or commonly 孔子; Kongzi; c. 551 – c. 479 BCE). In Western circles perhaps the most undervalued Chinese philosopher.
Bonten (梵天) aka Brahmā. As Brahmā Sahampatti, encouraged the Buddha to teach those few who are receptive. Lord of Akaniṣṭha, highest of subtle form realms, though generic “brahmā” is used for many realms, depending on school, just as “akaniṣṭha” may be used more broadly.
Deeply ingrained are / Patterns of attraction, / Aversion, and confusion. / Poisons to eradicate, or / Afflictions to cure, or / Forces to transmute, or / Phantoms to release? / Caught in their spell, / Err on the side of caution. / As in medicine, it is better to prevent what can be prevented. The four strategies apply to different levels of reactivity & distortion. In this regard, yānas differ in emphasis, not in substance. Aptitude, motivation, skill, maturity, situation & instruction are key factors./
Chaos comes from ancient Greek χάος, meaning emptiness or void before creation. Related to χώρα, open space or place. That it should come to mean disorder is in fact the history of Western philosophical thought in one word, namely from empty space to utter confusion and disorder. No wonder smart folks look back at neoplatonism, stoicism etc. Yet one must go further to find solid foundations on which to rebuild a sane outlook. In short, to begin with, where everything comes from is not disorder, and what arises is not order, whether natural or man-made. Wikipedia [quote]: Use of chaos in the derived sense of “complete disorder or confusion” first appears in Elizabethan Early Modern English, originally implying satirical exaggeration. [unquote] The joke was obviously lost on most, whether educated or uneducated. Thus, fast forward. Wikipedia [quote]: “Chaos” in the well-defined sense of chaotic complex system is in turn derived from this usage. [unquote] ‘This usage’ refers to the satirical exaggeration, the joke that was lost. We’re stuck instead with a joke that was never intended./
Is there more good, or is there more evil? Do both provide meaning and purpose? Is one more fundamental? Is one easier? How so? Is there a blueprint of sorts? Is it all relative? Is it a matter of decision made every single day? Worth pondering. Or, as some say, sitting with.
Some worldviews are better than others. Agreed. Yet, better how? Better for what? Better for whom? It’s better to know.
Some things can only be hinted at. Argued for only implicitly. Taught only tacitly. If openly demonstrated, only situationally. Such things tend to be subtle, yet fundamental to understanding. This seems true in many fields of human endeavour. Not least in spiritual practice.
Functional instinct, intuition, and imagination are necessary before one can reason and discern. Without them, reason is mute, deaf, and blind.
One reliable evaluation of spiritual practice is rather simple, yet powerful. Namely, how have your questions changed? Both what the question are, and how you engage them.
13 years ago this day with extraterrestrial maverick artist Stuart Davis in Boulder, CO.
A sense of true direction (another meaning of “refuge”) is a balancing act. One never knows for sure, but one keeps moving into it based on sensitivity to feedback, as with balance itself. That’s also what “middle path” suggests beyond merely conceptual formulations. As one gets better through erring and trying, returning and trusting, the feedback becomes increasingly more subtle. Just the same, when directional balance is ignored, the feedback gets increasingly more severe. It’s an ongoing process of attunement, so keep going./
Every great tradition has “hidden” teachings. Not secret in the sense of being kept away from uninitiated through some kind of restricted access to texts, or private oral transmission. Not arbitrary. Hidden in plain sight, an inner meaning revealed through faith & practice. What makes these hidden is one’s own confusion, reactivity, and overall habitual density, crude patterns of experiencing, namely sensing & acting, while seemingly true to oneself. It’s oneself doing the concealing while engaged in seeking, obtuse & careless./
An amazing practice tip in this latest newsletter from @kenmcleod. It’s dense and layered, touching on many key points. Please have a look and take what you can. Unfettered Mind newsletter practice tips contain some of the best pith material available.
Vaiśravaṇa (jap. Bishamonten or Tamonten), guardian of north among four kings of Indra’s heaven. All-hearing, bright as a thousand suns, commander of the yakşa, rākśasa and kinnara, protects holy places, also known as god of war.
Great master Bodhidharma aka “blue-eyed barbarian” (碧眼胡), cca 5th century, his teaching based on Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra (cca 4th century), mostly Yogācāra and buddha-nature (referred to in the sūtra as “nonself-buddha-womb”).
Homage to the luminous unwavering state, free of elaborations.
Implicitly, any vajrayāna approach takes semantics and semiotics seriously. Not as mere theory or academic pursuit, but as a practice of meaning. Thus we find statements like “every object of six senses is a letter-sign.” Awareness as deep literacy.
Full moon, symbol of bodhicitta and buddha-nature, is a frequent motif in Japanese art, both ancient and modern.
Fra Serafin Sabol (1946-2017), OFM, Custos of the Our Lady of Trsat Sanctuary. A virtuous friend, simple and spirited, taught me a thing or two about devotion. Memorable quote: “Mary is a saint. Satan is a sinner. Rest of us, we’re somewhere in between.” RIP.
The most famous Japanese poem is a haiku by Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉, 1644-1694) composed in 1686. In kanji 古池や蛙飛こむ水のおと In hiragana ふるいけや1 かわずとびこむ みずのおと Furuike ya Kawazu tobikomu Mizu no oto. Here’s one translation. Old pond¹ Frog jumps² Sound of water³ My teacher explained the poem as follows. ¹Time is threefold, yet present now. ²Space is revealed in union of movement & stillness. ³Sudden sound is coming out of samādhi, awakening from the dream of time & space. Note: kawazu (frog) can also be read kaeru (to return). So, coming back to what is there. A leap of faith, a return to presence, with a splash. Rinzai master Sengai (1750-1837), author of painting below, wrote, 古池や芭蕉飛こむ水の音 Old pond Bashō jumps Sound of water /
Buddhist teachings on emptiness are uniquely splendid. As any splendid thing, often misunderstood. So, uniquely misunderstood.
Mantra has a miraculous 50/50 rate of efficacy. It either works or doesn’t. It’s notorious for not working when not applied, whatever the aim. The efficacy is not with the mantra-as-such, but with the union of mantra-method and awareness.
Homage to the luminous unwavering state, free of elaborations.
Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha.
Daigo-ji (醍醐寺) is a Shingon temple in Kyōto, founded in 874. Main deity Yakushi, Medicine Buddha. Also has a hall with Juntei (Cundī Avalokita), part of 33 Avalokitas pilgrimage. Emperor Daigo fell ill, abdicated, and became a monk here, named Hō-kongo (Dharmavajra), thus receiving his posthumous name, meaning ghee, i.e. creme de la creme, referring to most profound Buddhist teachings. His actual burial place is unknown. It is emperor Daigo that gave the Shingon founder Kūkai (shown below) his own posthumous name, Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師)./
Cintāmaṇicakra Avalokitasvara shown here lacks a few objects (lotus, jewel, rosary). In some Shingon lineages, one of main deities (s. iṣṭadeva) in the 4fold ritual practice (j. shidō) that culminates with fire ceremony.
Jigoku 地獄 (pictured right to left) or hell realm. Sometimes naraku 奈落 from skt naraka. In Buddhism, hell is not a divine punishment, nor is it eternal, though it may feel like both.
Mahākāruṇika Avalokitasvara. The little fellow is Maitreya, future Buddha, now residing in Tuṣita, as bodhisattva Nātha. Gautama also resided there – before his birth – as bodhisattva Śvetaketu.
Everything begins, proceeds, and ends with outlook. True beliefs matter.
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – Francis of Assisi
Youth Mañjuśrī.
Mahābodhisattva Samantabhadra on six-tusked oliphant, embodiment of bodhicitta and six pāramitā.
Buddha (historical) had a tremendous, somewhat sardonic, sense of humor. Too bad most of his jokes and quips, that come to us unfiltered, came to be taken by some as literal reality claims.
2023
Happy new year! Sarva mangalam!
Acalanātha Vidyārāja (Immovable Lord, Wisdom King) holds a sword and a noose. Also known as Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa (Violent One of Great Wrath).
A graceful Dakini displaying a sword and triple gem, with six-spoked wheels tiara, riding a fox on a cloud-and-mist dragon throne. Sun, moon, and triple gem in the sky above.
Treasured teacher, I pray to you. I pray for my heart to turn to practice…
One of the scariest books one can read without ever realizing how scary it is. Thank you, Eric Neumann.
I like Padova. And I just love the friends I had precious little time with. You know who you are.
Believe it or not, there’s an ethic to every aesthetic. Thus, aesthetic curiosities can lead to ethical discoveries, if given a chance.
To paraphrase Carl von Clausewitz, “everything in matters of life and death is simple, but the simplest things are difficult.”
If all goes well October > California… March > Japan… Fingers crossed
Deep red wood of sukha, Bright blind beach of siddhi – A day with a friend.
There is no such thing as ordinary experience. Experience – in and of itself – is no ordinary thing. Non-ordinary experience only serves as a reminder. *Just back home from a trip to a strange land.
Passed 3000 online mentoring sessions. Keep calm and keep going.
2024
Jet-lagged in Tōkyō.
Aspiration to awakening, the way-seeking mind, is the willingness to live without an answer, to know without an answer, to rest and move and be moved – in response, yet without answer. There’s more, but that’s where it begins.
A few spots open for practice mentoring. Also, drop-in consultation available.
For your practice to flourish, don’t limit it to formal periods. In fact, don’t limit practice to meditation or devotion alone. Adopt a weekly art discipline, as well as weekly visits to nature. While you’re at it, simplify everything else to have regular times of nothing to do.
You can overtrain. And we know what it does, most of it not good. Can you overmeditate? Easily. How much is too much? It depends where u’re at and what u’re aiming at, but it is almost certainly less than u imagine. Of course, u must do it well. Well enough. And maintain balance. How hard is good? Just hard enough to respect, not so hard to fear it – doable. Noone to impress, no enemies to defeat. A good edge challenges motivation, skill, and capacity, yet isn’t overwhelming. Consistent and sustainable, one day a time, a long game. Again, balance./
Change is inevitable. Cheer up!
Check this new conversation. @kenmcleod’s recent translation of Diamond Sutra with a new commentary. Diamond Sutra is one of the most influential early Mahayana sutras. It describes a way of being & acting that is not mediated by the conceptual mind.
A robust practice routine is the best expression of what you already are. #deepDharma
It’s that time again. Olive harvest (+10k yrs) and oil extraction (+5k yrs) are like nothing else. At this stage fruits are violet and black, giving a mild bittersweet flavour. Only first cold press, mostly for daily consumption, a special batch for anointing and fire ceremony.
Dragon taming arhat, sanskrit name Nāndimitra (Joyful Friend), likely derived from Mahākāśyapa. Note the items on the platform: two vajras in
Meta-rationality remains unattractive because it’s challenging and requiring growth, both personal and organizational, which then forces change to how things are done. I suspect there are other reasons, but those might just be excuses.
Passed 3333 online mentoring sessions. Looking for novel ways to maximize benefit of individual instruction and guidance, knowing I will not be doing this forever. Best wishes for 2025 to everyone.
2025
Back in 2005, Skype was the only game in town, and mostly free. Before it, online mentoring was limited to email. RIP Skype, and thanks for good 15+ years. Switched to Google Meet Premium.
Garbhakoṣadhātu aka Mahakaruna-garbhodbhava mandala, the “womb of great compassion,” one of two main great mandalas in Japanese Vajrayana, the other being Vajradhātu.
Hi fellow x/tweeps! A short update on practice mentoring services. Two new offerings in the pipeline. 
starter kit for novices 
practice clinic for wayfarers Both programs are 6 sessions over 3 months of individualized check-up, support, and instruction. Read on. (1) starter kit for novices Whether you’re starting from scratch, or struggle with false starts, it’s crucial to have clarity on motivations, potentials, and methods – the whys, the whats, and hows of starting a practice, and having it take root. (2) practice clinic for wayfarers You’ve been at it for awhile, found purpose and reward, yet feel it’s time for checkup and review, or to get unstuck from a loop. Perhaps looking to clean up, gear up, and revitalize your practice. Plan to elaborate a bit on these on my website, but if this piques your curiosity and you have questions, or want to learn about admittance, let me know. Also, thanks for spreading the word to whoever might benefit./
Don’t drink Lethe’s waters, seek Mnemosyne instead. Or, remember to remember to remember.
Hosted an excellent Q&A (Ask Ken Anything) with @kenmcleod and a dirty dozen of practice apprentices from four continents. Thank you to everyone who took part.
Buddhist teacher and translator Ken McLeod meets a group of practice apprentices from four continents for an ad hoc event. Hosted by Hokai Sobol. Duration 1 hour 24 minutes.
Word cloud from last 5 years of posting.
Life good to almost perfect is not a path, so keep going. #fourthignobletruth [Accepting a heavy price gladly makes the good life almost perfect. #thirdignobletruth] [Knowing this, and living accordingly, comes at a heavy price. #secondignobletruth] [Life is good. #firstignobletruth]
Déjà vu and jamais vu. Already seen vs never seen. A “discovery!” for “future insights!” Both happen routinely as soon as one starts paying close attention to how experience arises, especially with repetitive patterns. But it’s the “brain!” doing stuff.
Just realized – duh – that Achilles Heel and Hoichi the Earless convey the same basic principle. As you learn to wield attention, get to know the blind spot. Include everything.
Four pairs for a well rounded practice lattice, irrespective of yāna or lineage. ¹formal & living practice ²ritual & meditation ³moderate & intense ⁴solitary & group … When it comes to the dizzying variety of styles and methods of Buddhist practice available, combine the musical and culinary approaches. A closer look follows. In general, hands-on learning supported by need-to-know theory & history. Know your basic materials & concepts through direct experience. Mentors & peers are essential. Also immersive learning early on, relevant plus relatable. Learn groceries, sourcing, cooking, and serving self and others simultaneously, securing a steep curve and solid foundation early on. Raw to long process, simple to complex. Feeding, health, taste, and presentation in synergy. Eg three fives of Japanese cuisine. Cook to eat, feed others, know digestion. Explore one culinary tradition per decade. Know tools & techniques, recipes & sequences & pairings. Watch “The Taste of Things” (2023), indulge palate by visiting pro chefs, try street food anywhere. Never let budget limits thwart you. Tone deaf or pitch perfect? Learn to listen. Hum, whistle, tap, and singalong. Find a tutor, learn about voices, instruments, genres, traditions, and periods. Learn to listen. Pick an instrument each decade, and have fun with fingers, scales, chords, and harmonics. Listen deeply. Once you have a solid repertoire, challenge your horizons. Drink from sources virtuoso to amateur, trad to trans. Listen to nature, get intimate with silences, resonances, reverbs, pauses… As you listen, notice surreptitious and auspicious accidents of harmony. Keep going. Be grateful to the muses, devoted to the art. Invest curiosity, patience, and playful exploration. Never stop having fun./
Cintāmaṇicakra (Wish Jewel Wheel) is the chief Avalokiteśvara deity (orig. Avalokitasvara) in Japanese Vajrayāna, the central deity in first of four empowerment trainings, the backbone of mikkyō practice (¹Eighteen ways, ²Vajradhātu, ³Garbhakośa, ⁴Homa Fire).
Many principles, practices, methods, symbols, ritual forms etc accepted as Indian by origin, just because we find them in Indian traditions, clearly have been introduced to India from other places at different times. Earliest Vajrayāna maṇḍala (700 to 900 AD) present 12 astrological signs – still today. Not Indian Vedic (skt. jyotiṣa) which had a rather long history in India, but Babylonian ones (2,000 BC) – same 12 signs Greeks used since 400 BC, which today we find in Western astrology. Why would a new Indian tradition use non-Indian astrological symbols, easily replacable by Indian ones, and preserve those same 12 signs until today? And Vajrayāna teachers are not even aware that their maṇḍala contain what are now modern Western astrology symbols. I’m using a most obvious exampe, but there are more than a few such elements, hidden in plain sight. Again: names and attributes of deities, seed syllables, visual and gestural symbols, procedures, methods, principles, seemingly out of nowhere. And mostly ignored. One of the reasons why Buddhisms resonate with Western cultures is that wheel turnings and yānas contain grassroots elements that are part of the same rhizomatic history that had Mediterranean cultures, Persia, India, and China in a web of trade. It is not trivial. There’s more. The wheel (skt. cakra) originated from steppe 2,000 BC Sintashta culture, known as Aryans, an *eastward* migration of European Corded Ware and Yamnaya cultures. Wheel travelled & spread like nothing before it in all four directions. Wheel also became a symbol of Sun, of mighty sovereign, called in India cakravartin, and the earliest symbol of buddha dharma. Now, Gautama Buddha came from an ancestry of Sun worship, not from Vedic cults. Fire-moon-sun worship was basis for one of his earliest honorifics – “kin of sun” – and 10 centuries later the Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna timeless buddha is called Sun or Great Sun, while wheels, suns, moons, and fires remain central symbols in art, scripture, and mystical practice. Ofc, the sun wheel is a circled cross, itself a basic maṇḍala of five genera. Drawn with seal (skt. mudra) and emptiness mantra to make one’s body a maṇḍala, it goes right chest to left, then heart to forehead. Western cross sign gesture is same in reverse. There’s ofc more. A lot more. / Oh and… Wishing you x/tweeps a blessed Vaiśākha Buddha Purnima!/
Bliss or sukha, what’s in a word. You know duḥkha? Pain discomfort unease trouble agony grief distress sorrow misery suffering struggle frustration… Duḥ is bad, difficult etc. Kha is open empty space when/where awareness meets experience, empty meets clarity. A slow thread… Sukha is pleasure, joy, ease, bliss, enjoyment, delight. Ofc it has specific connotations in context. Duḥ/su is exactly dys/eu in Greek: eu- vs dysphoria, eu- vs dystopia, eu‐ vs dysdaimon, examples of duḥkha sukha. These prefixes are used in many langs to denote – +. Aside. Early Greek accounts of Eros and Psyche and their daughter Hēdonē are interesting, depending on who tells the story. Later, Epicureans are ambivalent to hēdonē, Stoics say it’s bad, yet Heidegger embraces bliss as movement of the soul, precursor of tranquility. Go figure. Let’s look at 3 meanings of sukha, as with 3 aspects of duḥkha. First, sensory pleasure is absence of pain. Second, good impermanence ie positive change. Third, good way of being. These are all used in early scripture, either bad as illusion, or good as metaphor, or either/both. R-rated Mahāyāna brings sukha-bliss as 1 of 4 synonyms for nirvāṇa. Since nirvāṇa is end of bad, must be true good. It’s also true being, true permanence, and true purity. As genuine marks of buddha being buddha, these go beyond their conventional +/- pairs. Yes? Or… Not so fast. Those 4 align with 4 demonic forces (māra): reactive emotions, death terror, delusion of self, clinging to special experiences. And bliss is special, innit? And nirvāṇa is true peace, not some bliss. Isn’t true peace true bliss? Can I have it and eat it? Now bliss appears as 1 of special™ experiences, along with clarity and no-thought. As subsiding of desire, bliss can be delicious, rapturous pleasure and joy, but also unfiltered waves of deep pain and sorrow. If you’re lucky in a weird way, it’s both, alternating or at once. Same with clarity and no-thought. Clarity can be enhanced transparent 4k in every way, and also an acute superclear awareness of chaos *and* confusion. No-thought can be rock solid silence, or paralysis etc. Having these is mostly good, holding unto not so much. Bliss™ energy flows free, and highlights blocked flow. Like doing strength feels weakness, stretching feels rigidity, relaxing feels tension. This is dynamic phase-shifting bliss, between usual (habit pattern) & unusual (open empty). These shifts can be unexpected & unintended. Going deeper, a tacit knowing takes hold. An nderstanding becomes possible, tho uncertain. Pleasure & pain give way to ever subtler blisses. Timeframe: ∞/∞ Now it moves into mahā‐bliss and vajra-bliss. Not hype. ‘Mahā’ and ‘vajra’ signal deep shifts in sense & meaning. Enter advaya: not two, not one. Vajrasukha or mahāsukha is bliss beyond bliss and/or pain. It’s also already-there bliss without beginning or end. It’s union of bliss and empty awareness in naked clarity. A joy not so much of release, tho this may at times be overwhelming, but of simple being – of empty presence, dreamlike presence, and immediate presence, all in one. Thus, no limits (mahā), no buts or ifs (vajra). Just so. … Now life of joys and sorrows goes on & one is not separate from it. And something happens now and again. DMs open. Let me know if you enjoy these threads. Is something amiss? Is there something you’d like to see more of? Thanks for feedback, much appreciated./
Weeping Maitreya (Loving One), aka Ajitā (Invincible). Why? Cuz loving compassion is the way. Also cuz that way is a path through an endless valley of sorrows. No way around it. It’s hard sell if coming from a “make my life better” angle, not that it hasn’t been tried. Forever.
We are legion. Each and every single one. Or, as my teacher often encouraged me, “Not small. One!” Just do your part. It *always* tips the scales.
Create a void. Then fall into it.
Knowing history is laudable. Not repeating past errors, remarkable. This isn’t about that. It’s about what one becomes. Knowing itself. So… Hindsight is lazy wisdom. Always right. A would-be should’ve. Judging the dead. Someone said, “Let the dead bury the dead.” Look. Act.
Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī embodies insight & discerning wisdom ie intimacy with empty knowing. Mañju means beautiful, sweet, while Śrī is a honorific, meaning glorious. Other names Mañjughoṣa (Lovely Voice) & Vāgīśvara (Lord of Speech), shown as either youth prince or old hermit. Full icon 1. Sword, prajna-scripture, five top knots, script reads “a ra pa cha na” 2. Riding lion of buddha-roar, right arm and leg cutting samādhi (self), left arm and leg spreading prajñā (others)./
Whether learning attention, skills, concepts, or ways of being, inner or outer or liminal… whatever learning is about, from, of, towards etc. it has five implicit domains. – learning environment – unlearning – how to learn – how to know – pointing beyond the learnt…
Medicine Buddha (skt. Bhaiṣajyaguru, jap. Yakushi, tib. Menla) statue in Japan, flanked by Moonlight and Sunlight. Some years ago I’ve put together a simple Medicine Buddha ritual practice. Still available for download [link]
What is intimacy? A deepening movement from knowing about to knowing thru experience to knowing thru being known to empty knowing to natural direct knowing. Each step opens possible cycles for each previous step. While it feels like emergence, it’s a genuine descent.
Most of “mindful” now is humans trying to somewhat compensate for making many aspects of ourselves obsolete – ie physical emotional spiritual social atrophy – thru seeking safety comfort convenience. Same tracks, same drive behind both.
Any demystifying by blinding oneself to mistery is bound to fail. Mistery is always at the core of every meaningful pursuit. Every aspect, every level, every mode. Learn to embrace and appreciate mystery.
A tiny little bit of genuine kindness goes a very long way. And it doesn’t matter one iota where one’s at. A little bit more – and it’s a different world altogether.
Round and round. Lost and found. Revolving or going around the sacred is a key practice in many spiritual traditions East and West. In Sanskrit, parikrama (path around) or pradakṣiṇā (to the right, clockwise), means walking around sanctum sanctorum: holy relics (śarīra), stūpa, caitya, sanctuary, mountain or water, circular pilgrimage etc. One walks around Buddha, keeping the teacher to the right, showing respect before sitting down in seeking guidance. Proper decorum, basic recognition of what comes first, setting orientation & favorable conditions – both outer and inner – for learning. This pūjā is a form of active meditation that *anyone* can do (and tbf ought to). In the West, the term is circumambulation. Abrahamic traditions strictly uphold the practice in various formats. Circle dances across cultures reflect this sacred method, moving in the path of the sun, left to right. Same in Japan. In Zen, it’s jundō etiquette. In Shingon, henro or junrei pilgrimages as well as indoor dōjō walking. Pilgrims carry wooden vajra staff, just like monks would carry khakkhara, at once staff, instrument, and weapon. West again, religious pilgrim (lat. peregrinus) carries staff, as does Hermes (see caduceus, petasos), as do bishops. Yet pilgrimage and sacred revolving is older than any present tradition, whether East or West. Finding one’s way by moving in circles, “there and back again.” It’s one of cakra and maṇḍala practices, rituals as old as language, it’s the original mystical path. It’s about birth life death, space, time, center, depth, wonder awe, devotion, timeless awareness, awakening from confusion to natural presence, revolving in circles like sleep, dream, waking, then sleep again. It begins, and it ends, by finding one’s feet. Just look skt. pāda > patha, eng. foot > path. Let that sink in. /
Individuals are oriented in Buddhist practice in different ways, 3 main modes follow. ¹Therapeutic thru healing and improving one’s experience of life. ²Being part of community thru organized group activities. ³Spiritual or mystical calling, seeking inner transformation. These & other modes may intersect somewhat, but their motives & aims are different. Beyond individuals, the 3 modes give rise to different adaptations in modern world (not just the West), as well as different meanings of terms and distinct practice languages. For example, mindful awareness, a key term, will have a diff meaning in each of these contexts, ditto devotion, purification, emptiness, compassion, power, or freedom. A tension persists at their intersection, exactly because of the resultant confusion. Motives & aims matter. Know yours. Note: academics, translators, even teachers-who-know-stuff, regularly flying blind in this semantic haze, must be aware of it, right? Well, the meaning of “aware” depends on *their* motives and aims. Never assume. Follow up. ¹-²-³modes (or more) can fail within & between at discrs level. To make sense, look within mode, and between modes. “Rearranging deck chairs on titanic” may refer to bad therapy vs good therapy, but also used to separate therapy *from* mystical practice. Know which. State chasing can be good or bad ¹therapy – always bad ³mystical. Group hopping, insight illness, king-of-the-hill taboo (yikes!) are used in discourse without addressing this within/between meta fallacy. Just so, ¹shift is not ³shift. Call it what you like, then live with it. Mindfulness, vipassanā, jhāna, basic ethics, good or bad, are apples & oranges & avocados, depending on mode. “All fruits!” does zero to help & ∞ to obfuscate, thus failure. At culture level, tower-of-babel mess. Any yāna coming blind into this wherever will fail across modes. Paths, maps, stages do help, imperfect as they are, territory as they’re not. If it’s a process, there’s no skipping. Take 8-fold path in reverse & be the train wreck. Also, whether it’s oneself or loved ones, know by fruits. It’s ok to err. It’s better to learn. Good luck./
Awareness is uncontroversial, as is experience. Any controversy is a social construct, a squabble. Don’t waste precious time proving you’re effortlessly experiencing stuff, and knowing it. Look at experience, rest in that looking, and see all controversy dissappear. Hallelujah. <> Oh dear, *disappear./
Out of the blue, one wakes up to a layer of reactivity & confusion. After some work, one wakes up from that, only to soon wake up to a new layer of reactivity & confusion, raw & primitive. Doubts ensue.
Hanshan “Cold Mountain” and Shide “Foundling” (jap. pronunciation Kanzan, Jittoku) reading scripture and pointing to the moon. Quite a few collections of Hanshan’s poetry in English available, recommended “The Poetry of Han-Shan” by R Henricks and “Cold Mountain” by B Watson.
Mahāvairocana (Great Sun), the original dharmakāya of early Guhya Mantra (Vajrayāna). <> As five elements: Oṃ a vi ra hūṃ khaṃ <> As awareness: Oṃ vajradhātu vaṃ <> As dynamic union of awareness and experience: Oṃ amogha vairocana mahāmudrā maṇipadma jvala pravartāya hūṃ
Aspects of Buddhist ethos / pathos / logos poorly conveyed: 1. power, capacity (śakti, bala, indriya, vīrya, vibhūti, sāmarthya etc) 2. sorcery, magic (ābhicārika, kṛtyā, śambara, ṛddhi, siddha, kārmaṇa etc) 3. peace, ataraxy (śānti, śama, sama, kṣema, abhaya, nirbhaya etc) Plus a few intense qualities arising in practice but regularly underplayed like faith, devotion, reliance, enthusiasm, fervour, ardour, heightened sensory awareness, visions (too many skt to list)… Mostly cuz trying too hard to not sound like a religion. Or mystical path. Also, consistently desacralized & psychologized: samadhi, insight, vows & oaths, compassion, mandala, mind (!), body (!), emptiness, awe & wonder, purification, bliss, grace, consecration, sacred beings, mystical birth & death & rebirth… the list goes on. Note 1: meditation is made to sound more accessible than observance, art, and ritual, even tho minority of Buddhists ever meditated à la cold turkey with any genuine result. Plus, outlook / view is *not* “scholarly philosophy” by any stretch etc. Note 2: ofc most people don’t look for these in teachers (ofc most teachers wouldn’t know what or how to do) and when they do there’s a ton of problems on both sides. In its legitimacy seeking, Consensus Buddhism chose to be part of [problem in] modern desacralization. Note 3: there’s a better take on this layered, messy thingy – quite a few senior teachers in any yāna are aware & skillful, doing what they can. There’s an unacknowledged, unserved demand for such guidance. Meanwhile, consensus will do what it does best – play ball for perks./
Fingers crossed is a basic hand mudrā. All-knowing Intelligence says “The gesture has historical roots in superstition, with origins in early Christianity where it was used to invoke the protection of the Holy Cross.” Roots = origins, thus superstition = early Christianity. Similarly with holding thumbs. It’s superstition, or symbolism at best. It cannot possibly be a somatic way of shaping energy and recollecting one’s mind without thinking or forcing attention. Vajrayāna has dozens of major and hundreds of minor mudrā, many secret. Ofc, every gesture imaginable has a sacred or secular meaning. Whether blessing or curse, prayer or profanity, it’s emptiness to form and out into space. A sign, a seal. Check the etymology of “behave.”/
Hārītī, former demon child kidnapper and cannibal witch, who converted to protect children and discipline bad parents, becoming goddess of fertility across Buddhist schools. Strong Greek and Scythian connection. Hārītī takes her iconography from Tyche and Demeter, and their Scythian equivalents. Mythic conversion is outer symbolic of a key inner practice in Vajrayāna, namely turning of bewildering confusion and habitual reactivity into timeless awareness and compassion. Coda: Hārītī often holds a pomegranate (as above), the “apple” that Adam and Eve eat in the Garden of Eden. Pics: Persephone tempted by Hades, and Mary with child, both featuring pomegranate. And yes, it’s very healthy./
Suffering is what it’s like to want to feel or be or not, honey on razor blade, a consuming fear of outcomes. What makes the sandwich of birth & death more than just a bittersweet, spellbound dream. Accepting such raw predicament is where path begins. Only if. Or maybe not? Impermanence is about facts, namely their emptiness. Not only certainty of death & uncertainty of when, or constancy of change, but what one never sees coming – everfresh permutation of knowns & unknowns. Now, how do u feel about that? Is there awareness? That’s most of path. Nonself is what one is, not how one feels, or who one becomes. Not seeing that, the other two become a consuming obsession. Knowing thru & thru, down to the marrow of mortal bones, is fruition of any path worth its name. If that sounds bad, unbound compassion is its reward./
A 4yo thread on Buddhist art across yānas was mostly history, past to present. Have a look at it first. What about future tho? Is there a future? Or futures? And why it matters. Here’s another slow thread. Background to consideration of Buddhist arts (BA) must be fate of 21st century arts & crafts in general. Obv not going to elaborate on that elephant (in room, china shop, blind men). Instead, going to focus on three hesitations for BA: ¹arts as binder, ²culture code, ³yāna. ¹BA as binder itself has 3 aspects: it binds ¹scripture (& wisdom), samādhi (& meditation), ritual (& ethics); ²awake (& teacher), aware (& student), alerts everyone else; ³codes based on one language (local), on one experience (global), and one deep time commons (cosmic). ²BA as culture code has 3 aspects: ¹fixed code (mountain) for body, ²moving code (waves) for speech, ³space code (sky) for mind, each in ¹self (psyche), ²others (culture), and ³world (nature), bound by artistic activity. ³BA reflecting yāna has 3 aspects: ¹union of form and emptiness beyond yāna, ²revealing spectrum aniconic <> iconic <> transiconic, ³arts’ function particular to each yāna. These account for essence, nature, and potency of BA as Dharma beyond lineage, language, or culture. The three hesitations result in BA failing to ¹bind, ²recode, and ³guide. Hesitation arises from ¹ignoring the key role of BA as binder, ²fixation and/or rejection of past BA forms, ³blindness to potentials of untapped cultures, such as present desacralized post-secularity. As binder, BA are fascia of Buddhist practice-and-path as whole, vital to health, integrity, proprioception, movement, and pain perception. Going forward, it’s the missing link in Buddhist adaptation in 21st century. Recognizing this is key to a new curiosity. BA as culture code bridges multiple illusory rifts at once. Groups evolve cultures by refusing to copy/paste. East & West are still stubbornly treated as binary, instead as poles of a gate (skt. torana) into a sacred world. Active recoding overcomes Buddhist ethnocentrisms. As for yāna – effectively different religions – it only takes a glimpse to grok them, especially thru simplified BA done right. A fuller resonance is possible in addition to conceptual scholarly schemata. You should know it’s a match when you see it, hear it, and touch it. Even Indian Buddhism isn’t all Indian. Each Buddhism is a result of robust cross-cultural transfers of practices in renunciation, sorcery, meditation, philosophy, energy, and also *massive* artistic adoptions & innovations. It never did, and never will, work any other way. Coda: this thread was done extempore, impromptu. If you find it helpful, please like and share. /
Feminine wave (L) and Masculine wave (R) by Japanese painter and printmaker best known as 北斎 Hokusai (1760-1849), who influenced Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. The two images are usually displayed separately, somewhat annoying imo. Side by side, they flow from each other. Gentle to violent, light into dark. No separation. He also did the famous “Great Wave Off Kanagawa” (shown below). /
Disdain of world (contemptus mundi) is common in sūtric Buddhism, not to mention Abrahamic religions. Undertone in Hīnayāna, overtone in classic Mahāyāna, it is recycled in Secret Mantra & followups: first replaced with equanimity and compassion, then with love and joy. Disgust for saṃsāra as charnel ground (skt. śmaśāna) is a method to face fear & disgust only to merge with a vision of clear buddha-field (skt. viśuddha buddhakṣetra). World is a mystery, enchanted & terrible, a presence beyond one’s self, shaped by purpose, intention, and action. Shadow of death valley becomes the place of wonder & awe, and also the sole abode of true peace. A fertile challenge that sprouts *manifold* wisdoms for many confusions, all different faces of what has no face, is each & every face, known only as just so, always new itself. /
Trying to figure out how to write about deity union in a way that works here. Not there yet.
Is there a best time for daily silent meditation? Yes, the hour before dawn. [Option, go back to sleep for 90 minutes.] Second best time, after waking up, before breakfast. Third best time, whenever consistent. As add-on, a short period before sleep is good.
I make baklava and call it peace. And then, we eats it.
As thick as thieves we were, but grew estranged. My dear friend moved on, and now he’s dead.
Fun learning about different lineages of medieval trivium today (ie “three ways” of grammar, logic, rhetoric). With quadrivium (astronomy, arithmetic, geometry, music) it’s seven liberal arts of proper classical education. Trivium is somewhat similar to Buddhist three kinds of knowing (learning, thinking, cultivation), for example as proposed by Spinoza. ::: Trivium in etymology leads to trivia in modern usage, which in Roman times was a name (“Threeway”) for Hecate, Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft, crossroads, doorways etc. Shown in 3 bodies, like Indian trimurti or Buddhist three-faced deities. As maiden – mother – crone sorceress, rules over earth, waters, sky & underworld. Her signs moons, wheels, keys, torches, daggers, ropes, polecats, dogs… In short, Greek Dakini. ::: So, trivia & trivium./
Etymology of “etymology” goes back to Greek etymon, etymos (true) and logos (word). Etymology traces meaning through time. What this actually does mean is tracing how meanings originate from other, prior meanings, but as often also how prior meanings are lost in the process. In shameless display of form and empty, meanings persist and subsist enough to make sense of words. And the more a word is heavy with meaning (e.g. logos), the more it loses itself in traces through time, giving rise to changing etymologies. Greek true (etymos) is synonymous with alethes (adj form of aletheia, truth) genuine meaning of which is unconcealed or unforgotten, as when lost is found again. ::: Fun fact: etymos+logos into sinojap makes 真言 (c. zhenyen, j. shingon, true word), which translates the Sanskrit word “mantra” (spell)./
Mr Eno, who brought us *ambient and *scenius, with Mr Frost – on mentorship, answers vs questions, how to start and finish – short and sharp.
Most of what is troubling anyone stems from being persuaded early on that something is wrong with them, or others, or the world. Such distortion has been perpetuated for ages as if it was a venerable tradition.
“This Unexpected Jewel : Reading the Diamon Sutra” by Ken McLeod
Hi, 5 years ago did two cool AMAs here. Is it time for another one? Would be great to hear from folks who contributed back then. [*AMA here allows asynchronous interaction over a period, as well as translation. YT live would require scheduling, not sure the interest is there.]
南 無 大 師 遍 照 金 剛 🙏
So… Paglia tells JP that if universities consulted work of Neumann (student of Jung, author of “The Great Mother” and “The Origins and History of Consciousness”) and/or asked for his guidance, the culture wars would not happen. Yes, but hubris would never let *that* happen.
So, let me get this straight: one can freely use “mystery” and “mysterious” in physics and natural sciences, but not so much in the context of Buddhist practice. Generally, it’s ok to speak religiously in science as long one speaks scientifically in religion. Did I get it right?
Kūkai (774–835) 即身成佛 [soku shin jo butsu] “this body become buddha”
Dōgen (1200-1253) 即心是佛 [soku shin ze butsu] “this mind is buddha”
Mañjuśrī asked, “Blessed Lord, with how many names are you active in the world?” Buddha said, “I am called [and known by some as] Śakra, Brahmarāja, Maheśvara, I am called naturalness, earth, tranquility, I am called nirvāṇa, heavenly god, asura, I am called sky, the supreme, I am called meaning, unreal, samādhi, compassionate one, benevolence, water god (Varuṇa), dragon (nāga), nature spirit (yakṣa), seer (ṛṣi), lord of three realms, light, fire, lord of demons, being [itself], nonbeing, thought [itself], non-thought, [mount] Sumeru, vajra, permanence, impermanence, I am called mantra, great mantra, ocean, vast ocean, sun, moon, cloud, great cloud, lord of men, great lord of men, dragonlike elephant, I am called arhat, unchanging, not unchanging, life [itself], non-life, mountain, great mountain, unextinguished, unborn, thusness [itself], nature of thusness, apex of reality, nature of the apex of reality, I am called totality of experience, what is, nondual, I am called ‘having sublime attributes.’ Mañjuśrī, I have made in this world countless names to attract and direct beings. With no effort tathāgata turns [like a wheel] with innumerable kinds of mantras, powers, and miraculous appearances.” — excerpt from Bodhimaṇḍa /
“Una civilización que niega a la muerte, acaba por negar a la vida.” — Octavio Paz
1,200 yrs ago: “As for the text [of a scripture], there are three kinds. First, the [vast, boundless] text that arises spontaneously & perpretually, the mandala of Dharma of all Buddhas. Second, the larger text that circulated in the world, the sutra of thousands of verses. Third, the abbreviated text [writen] in fascicles. However abbreviated it may be, it embraces the broader texts. Because its each and every word contains countless meanings, and every single letter, even every single stroke or dot, encapsulates within it countless truths.”
Never Let Me Go (2010) is something else. So was The Remains of the Day (1993), as well as Living (2022). Kazuo Ishiguro’s writings make splendid movies.
Translations have different outcomes when weirding Bunglish – or other Western Buddhish – vocabularies originate from different Asian sources. Given that translations of Indian materials to Chinese, Tibetan etc. are far from faultless, one does allow for unintended fails. But the resultant coldness & avoidant neutrality of some terminology continues to astonish. Words that breathe and live are translated into abstract cold terms that sound more like engineering than poetry, like “matrix” for womb for example, a stillborn idiom unfit for practice. /
Watching some insane CGI of Caracalla’s Baths (Rome, AD 216) and having annoying thoughts about the nature of progress.
No such thing as writer’s block. Ditto spiritual practice. Impasse, deadlock, obstacle… sure. But that’s no excuse, that’s where you give your all, and live to see another day. In short, never give up, never turn away. Do what you’d rather not. One way or another, say yes.
For a confused sentient being with an endless karmic burden, a skillful guide is useful. For a fledgling bodhisattva eager to help all beings, a master is recommended. For an already aware and awake, a perfect buddha teacher is essential. See how it works?
Shocked watching an otherwise reasonable secular naturalist insist that meditation does not involve any assumption (or was it presumption), while prayer assumes the existence of God. Not even wrong. Religion makes secular people say stupid things.
Meanwhile, law-abiding citizens are unaware how unsavoury Buddhist Tantra can be in its most sacred thoughts, words, and yes, deeds. And how excessively sanctimonious its upholders. Well meaning Buddhists are similarly unsuspecting. As public interest goes, not a bad situation.
Seeing Burnt again, favorite lines before it even begins: “I was good. Sometimes I way almost as good as I thought I was.” Next, The Taste of Things (again), then Jiro Dreams of Sushi (again).
Gaṇḍavyūha is the last chapter of the huge Buddhāvataṃsaka. It’s also an independent sutra. It’s also a record of proto-tantric Mahāyāna. A new 2025 version here [link] 1,200 pages in pdf, translated from Tibetan. Fwiw I prefer Supreme Array as title.
Just as reflections in a mirror do not invert sides, the seemingly lurid or lewd in tantra is not to offend or shock – right is right, good is good. Even with mahāyoga and niruttara, and it does get frisky – one is born, panics a bit, then dies. No bonbons, no X or AO ratings.
Good effort turning into dead end. ○ True openings leading to unbearable pain. ● Curious insights of trivial practical value. □ Deep practice spawning challenges for years on end. ■ At best, all of the above can be minimized and used for learning. At worst, one gives up.
Somewhat perplexing to see decent, too smart folks invest a better part of their life in Dharma practice and study – only to create or reproduce an eerie spitting Buddha in their own glorious image. It’s like Imago Dei, but in reverse. Perhaps not what “mirrorlike” means.
Nothing left to say? Say that. Nothing left to do? Do that. Nothing left to feel? Feel that. Nobody left to be? Be that.
Modes of spiritual discipline differ in terms of difficulty or challenge. Can be compared to walking, running, burpees, somersault. Like walking, the least difficult & suitable to everyone is also the most reliable & long distance one – namely devotion in body, speech, and mind.
Reading this warning “The outcome [of practice] will be conventional, potentially disastrous” and thinking, yeah sure, plus conventional and disastrous are often synonymous. I mean, no need to die if you’re already as good as dead. Same with illness and insanity. Yet so many recommend methods of awakening exactly in terms of their “conventional (disastrous)” benefits. A bit like advocating death because it makes one’s problems go away, and everyone else’s too. It’s unskillful means, where message fits nobody at all. Unwisdom for unpath.
A good way to introduce “vast” and “boundless,” or anything that takes one there – like unlimited apramāṇa, far-going pāramitā etc – is to show how it’s wherever one deigns to look, feel, and listen closely. Awareness is vast because it’s everywhere, every moment of experience. Emptiness is boundless because it’s never separate from anything, meaning it’s everywhere with everything. As with “Lift a stone, and you will find me there” from the Gospel of Thomas, what one is seeking is found here and there, near and far, but most where one least expects. And disciplines that help locate the all-pervasive – like four “immeasurables” or six “perfections” – serve to make one appreciate the ignorable and know anew the seemingly common. In a word, suchness.
I have 2k “followers” here but if a dozen see my post and half deign to click it’s a wonder to behold. Go figure. / / /
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