Mysticism
Mystical experiences do not necessarily supply new ideas to the mind, rather, they transform what one believes into what one knows, converting abstract concepts, such as divine love, into vivid, personal, realities.
It is the experiential knowledge that, in one way or another, everything is interconnected, that all things have a single source.
Mystical experience is often felt… as being in love,
They speak of union, fusion, absorption in, of being completely taken up by, and so on…
Awareness of a separate “I” disappears. Inner and outer flow away.
The awareness of a separate person ego that experiences something “other,” and feels that the self is enjoying, seeing experiencing—that awareness is no more.
There is no longer any awareness of time, or of any stream of time with past and future. Rather there is a sense of eternity.
…a realization – with one’s whole being – that all things are one, a universe, an organic whole into which the self fits…
it is like paradise: everything is one and interconnected, and is not divided into good and evil, into I and not-I, into body and mind.
Essentially, everything seems to be good….
love seems to be the basis of everything, the connection of this whole, the heart of this organism.
(Mystics) say something about God as he is experienced, but nothing about God as He is in Himself. All mystics declare their total ignorance of the being of God…widely differing names are given to what is encountered…
The Ultimate Reality, the Absolute, All-is One/One is All, the Unity of All Things, the Ground of Creation, Brahma, are names for the deeper reality experienced as a oneness in which everything is interconnected.
The true I, the Self, the Vital Spark, Atman, are names for the experience that this deepest reality also dwells in the innermost part of the human being. “Brahma is all and Atman is Brahma.” Names such as Ground or Deeps are also tied in with this experience.
You, the Bridegroom, the Beloved, indicate partnership and the personal character of the mystical experience.
The adoption of a name like Father, Son, Corpus Christi, Jesus, Mary, Krishna, points to an experience of the All-One in which humanity is central…
The peculiarity of mystical language…is not that it is describing another reality, but that it is describing the same reality in another way.
—Mysticism: Its History and Challenge
by Bruno Borchert
Buddha – The Awakened One
Bodhi…is the perfect liberation of body, speech, and mind. Tibetans call a Buddha Sangye (sangs rgyas). Sang means to come to one’s senses after having been asleep or drunk, and gye means broad, wide, or fully developed. Thus, Sangye means fully awake, having one’s potential fully developed. In this state of full awareness, a Buddha sees reality as it truly is…
—The Vision of Buddhism
by Roger Corless
Jane Hirshfield “He said, at this moment all beings and I awaken together. So it was not just him. It was all the universe. He touched the earth. ‘As earth is my witness. Seeing this morning star, all things and I awaken together.'”
Robert Thurman: “It’s not like entering a new state; it’s uncovering or surrendering to the reality that has always been there. He realized he’d always been in Nirvana that Nirvana was always the case; your reality itself is Nirvana. It’s the unreality; it’s your ignorance that makes you think you’re this self-centered separate being trying to fight off an overwhelming universe and failing. You are that universe.”
http://www.pbs.org/thebuddha/enlightenment-part-3/
Siddhartha Gautama’s Early Life
Siddhartha Gautama was born about 583 BCE, in or near what is now Nepal. His father, King Suddhodana, was leader of a large clan called the Shakya. His mother, Queen Maya, died shortly after his birth.
When Prince Siddhartha was a few days old, a holy man prophesied the Prince would be either a great military conqueror or a great spiritual teacher. King Suddhodana preferred the first outcome and prepared his son accordingly. He raised the boy in great luxury and shielded him from knowledge of religion and human suffering. The Prince reached the age of 29 with little experience of the world outside the walls of his opulent palaces.
The Four Passing Sights
One day, overcome with curiosity, Prince Siddhartha asked a charioteer to take him on a series of rides through the countryside. On these journeys he was shocked by the sight of an aged man, then a sick man, and then a corpse. The stark realities of old age, disease, and death seized and sickened the Prince.
Finally, he saw a wandering ascetic. The charioteer explained that the ascetic was one who had renounced the world and sought release from fear of death and suffering.
The Renunciation
For a time the Prince returned to palace life, but he took no pleasure in it. Even the news that his wife Yasodhara had given birth to a son did not please him. The child was called Rahula, which means “fetter.”
One night he wandered the palace alone. The luxuries that had once pleased him now seemed grotesque. Musicians and dancing girls had fallen asleep and were sprawled about, snoring and sputtering. Prince Siddhartha reflected on the old age, disease, and death that would overtake them all and turn their bodies to dust.
He realized then that he could no longer be content living the life of a prince. That very night he left the palace, shaved his head, and changed his prince’s clothes for a beggar’s robe. Then he began his quest for enlightenment.
The Search
Siddhartha began by seeking out renowned teachers, who taught him about the many religious philosophies of his day as well as how to meditate. But after he had learned all they had to teach, his doubts and questions remained. so he and five disciples left to find enlightenment by themselves.
The six companions attempted to find release from suffering through physical discipline–enduring pain, holding their breath, fasting nearly to starvation. Yet Siddhartha was still unsatisfied. It occurred to him that in renouncing pleasure he had grasped pleasure’s opposite–pain and self-mortification. Now Siddhartha considered a Middle Way between those two extremes.
He remembered an experience from his childhood, when his mind had settled into a state of deep peace. The path of liberation was through discipline of mind. He realized that instead of starvation, he needed nourishment to build up his strength for the effort. But when he accepted a bowl of rice milk from a young girl, his companions assumed he had given up the quest and abandoned him.
The Enlightenment of the Buddha
Siddhartha sat beneath a sacred fig (Ficus religiosa), known ever after as the Bodhi Tree, and settled into meditation.
The work of Siddhartha’s mind came to be mythologized as a great battle with Mara, a demon whose name means “destruction” and who represents the passions that snare and delude us. Mara brought vast armies of monsters to attack Siddhartha, who sat still and untouched. Mara’s most beautiful daughter tried to seduce Siddhartha, but this effort also failed.
Finally, Mara claimed the seat of enlightenment rightfully belonged to him. Mara’s spiritual accomplishments were greater than Siddhartha’s, the demon said. Mara’s monstrous soldiers cried out together, “I am his witness!” Mara challenged Siddhartha–who will speak for you?
Then Siddhartha reached out his right hand to touch the earth, and the earth itself roared, “I bear you witness!” Mara disappeared. And as the morning star rose in the sky, Siddhartha Gautama realized enlightenment and became a Buddha.
The Teacher
At first, the Buddha was reluctant to teach, because what he had realized could not be communicated in words. Only through discipline and clarity of mind would delusions fall away and the Great Reality could be directly experienced. Listeners without that direct experience would be stuck in conceptualizations and would surely misunderstand everything he said. But compassion persuaded him to make the attempt.
After his enlightenment, he went to the Deer Park in Isipatana, located in what is now the province of Uttar Pradesh, India. There he found the five companions who had abandoned him, and to them he preached his first sermon. This sermon has been preserved as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta and centers on the Four Noble Truths. Instead of teaching doctrines about enlightenment, the Buddha chose to prescribe a path of practice through which people can realize enlightenment for themselves.
The Buddha devoted himself to teaching, attracting hundreds of followers. Eventually he became reconciled with his father, King Suddhodana. His wife, the devoted Yasodhara, became a nun and disciple. Rahula, his son, became a novice monk at the age of 7 and spent the rest of his life with his father.
Last Words
The Buddha tirelessly traveled and taught until his death at age 80. His last words to his followers:
Behold, O monks, this is my last advice to you. All component things in the world are changeable. They are not lasting. Work hard to gain your own salvation.
http://buddhism.about.com/od/lifeofthebuddha/a/buddhalife.htm
Training the mind:
Buddhism points out that you are not what you think; like the weather, what you think is unpredictable and subject to change. Because of this the untrained mind is also essentially unreliable. Your thoughts and feelings lack permanence. This is a fact of conditioned, conventional existence.
—Awakening the Buddha Within: Eight Steps to Enlightenment
by Lama Surya Das
There is a great difference between conscious and unconscious thought for trained thought is far more powerful than untrained…Even a small amount of right thought puts to rout that which is wrong.
—209.1 SOM
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
The four noble truths is the first teaching the Buddha ever gave (to his five former ascetic colleagues) soon after his enlightenment. It is called the Discourse on Turning the Wheel of Dharma (Dhamma-cakka-pavatana Sutta). In this schema, the four noble truths are: Conditioned existence is dukkha (pain, suffering, discomfort, disease, sense of incompleteness). Dukkha is caused by “thirst” or craving (Pali/Skt: tanha), the desire to be, desire to have. The thirst can be stopped (nirodha). It can be stopped by walking the eightfold path (wholesome view, wholesome intention, wholesome speech, wholesome action, wholesome livelihood, wholesome effort, wholesome mindfulness, wholesome concentration).
—The Heart of the Universe: Exploring the Heart Sutra
by Mu Soeng
First Noble Truth
The First Noble Truth is known as the truth of dukkha.
Etymologically speaking, the literal meanings of dukkha are “hard to bear,” “dissatisfactory,” “off the mark,” “frustrating,” and “hollow.” The word dukkha, however, is frequently translated as suffering. This concept, the so-called “bad news” of Buddhism, has led some people to misconstrue Buddhism as pessimistic and life-denying. Yet Buddha’s primary message, the “good news” of Dharma, is that there is a way to be free of suffering. The message of the Dharma is inherently optimistic; it contains the promise, the real possibility, of spiritual rebirth and the end of suffering—the deathless spiritual enlightenment known as nirvana. Buddha Dharma does not teach that everything is suffering.
What Buddhism does say is that life, by its nature, is difficult, flawed, and imperfect. For most of us, this fact of life hardly merits a news flash. Who among us has a perfect life? Of course we would like it to be delightful and wonderful all the time. But it’s not going to happen. That’s the nature of life, and that’s the First Noble Truth. From a Buddhist point of view, this is not a judgment of life’s joys or sorrows; this is a simple, down-to-earth, matter-of-fact description. The fact is that we will all experience ups and downs no matter who we are. That’s part of the roller-coaster ride. Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic; it is realistic…
(Buddha) had to break through the obscurations of delusion—his own denial—and see the reality of conditioned existence, known as samsara, with all its inherent shortcomings. For all of us, this is an essential part of the path to enlightenment: Awaken your innate, inner Buddha; break through the denial systems in your life; see through the veils of illusion; recognize who and what you truly are; and know the truth of things exactly as they are.
—Awakening the Buddha Within: Eight Steps to Enlightenment
by Lama Surya Das
Three Sources of Dukkha
1. Ordinary, Everyday Difficulties or Dukkha
You don’t always get what you think you want, and that makes most people feel unhappy at least some of the time. If you are born, you are eventually bound to experience both physical and emotional pain. Birth, aging, illness, loss, grieving, as well as disappointments happen to every single one of us. This isn’t all bad. We can learn a great deal from the problems, both large and small, that we experience.
2. Difficulties or Dukkha Caused by Changing Circumstances
These are moments of genuine happiness. The difficulty, or dukkha, that we all face is that these moments don’t last: The music ends, your friends get a divorce, the new job you thought you wanted turns into a stress-producing headache, moments of cosmic love and bliss are fleeting. Thus we frequently end up feeling nostalgia, disappointment, and loss. Nothing good lasts forever; even the best moments of life are laced with a bittersweet quality. This is known as the dukkha of changing circumstances.
3. Difficulties or Dukkha Caused by the Flawed Nature of Conditioned
Existence
The third level of duhkha is derived directly from the observations made at the second level. Since we have discovered that, whether we are at work or away on vacation, that is, wherever we are in samsara, we are still suffering, we conclude that samsara itself is suffering. And, since we have found, during sitting meditation, that no position of the body is intrinsically comfortable, we have to admit that the body is suffering. This is called samskara-duhkhata, the suffering of conditioned existence… It is not that there is suffering in samsara, along with no suffering, but that samsara is suffering, through and through. Samsara and duhkha are synonymous. This is something that is not readily apprehended. It is said to be like a very fine hair in one’s eye. Because of the extreme fineness of the hair it is only noticed by someone whose pain threshold is very low.
Second Noble Truth
The Arising of Duhkha
The first part of the Fourfold Truth identifies the disease that afflicts all samsaric beings. The second part of the Fourfold Truth gives the etiology of the disease. Samudaya, arising, refers to the origin or the source of suffering. The root of suffering is upadana, grasping. Reality is flowing, but we attempt to freeze it; it is spacelike, but we attempt to parcel it up. From this comes, at the very least, disappointment, since when look at what we have grasped, we find it is not what we thought it was. Four types of grasping are traditionally identified: grasping at sense objects, at viewpoints, at ceremonies, and at the word “I.”
Third Noble Truth
The Stopping of the Arising of Duhkha
The third part of the Fourfold Truth is a message of hope. Our disease is not incurable. The Buddha, as the Master Physician (Bhaishajya-guru), has identified the disease as duhkha and the cause as grasping (upadana). Now, he analyzes the cause in more detail. Suffering does not come to us because of fate or the decree of a deity, it comes from our own past actions, and, therefore, we can do something about it. When the mechanism of the fruiting of action is understood, suffering can be stopped. This part of the Fourfold Truth is therefore called nirodha, stopping or extinction.
Fourth Noble Truth
The Way to the Stopping of the Arising of Duhkha
The last part of the Fourfold Truth is the remedy for the disease of suffering. It is called marga or the path. More precisely, it is the Holy Eightfold Path (aryashtangika-marga). The practice is called a path because suffering is ended bit by bit, with many reversals, and it is something we have to tread. The remedy is not a pill that works all at once and without our cooperation.
The eight limbs of the path are as follows:
1. Right View (samyag-drishti): understanding reality as it truly is, rather than as our deluded consciousness thinks it is. The basis of right view is the correct understanding of the Fourfold Truth.
- The Radiant Buddha said: Regard this fleeting world like this: Like stars fading and vanishing at dawn, like bubbles on a fast moving stream, like morning dewdrops evaporating on blades of grass, like a candle flickering in a strong wind, echos, mirages, and phantoms, hallucinations, and like a dream. —from The Eight Simile of Illusion by Prajna Paramita
- Right View is the reliable touchstone that reminds us to look at the world without any delusions or distortions about reality, or ourselves; to see roses where there are roses, thorns where there are thorns. Right View emphasizes the development of wisdom or prajna, which at its essence means knowing what is, knowing how things work, and knowing oneself and others.
2. Right Attitude (samyak-samkalpa): judging or classifying mind, the mind that we ordinarily use in going about our business, is to be free of attachment, hate, and confusion.
- The thought manifests as the word; The word manifests as the deed; The deed develops into habit; And habit hardens into character; So watch the thought and its ways with care, And let it spring from love Born out of concern for all beings….
- This step speaks about the possibility, and necessity, of using our minds and firm determination, or resolve, to free ourselves from ignorance, delusion, negativity, and selfishness. This step asks us, as seekers, to purify our attitudes and thoughts—to become totally straightforward and honest with ourselves—and, in so doing, to develop a working loving-kindness, empathy, and compassion toward all creatures. We cannot find deeper spiritual understanding without developing the faculties and qualities of the heart and mind.
3. Right Speech (samyag-vak): helpful and compassionate speech, free from lying, backbiting, and so forth.
- METTA PRAYER May all beings be happy, content, and fulfilled. May all beings be healed and whole. May all have whatever they want and need. May all be protected from harm, and free from fear. May all beings enjoy inner peace and ease. May all be awakened, liberated, and free. May there be peace in this world, and throughout the entire universe.
- In nontheistic Buddhism, as we pray, we are not petitioning for something so much as we are reaffirming our intentions and asserting our vows. The word we translate as prayer in Tibetan is Monlam. It roughly translates as aspiration-path or wishing-path. In the Dzogchen tradition, prayers are like the self-resound of Buddha-nature, Dharmata, a spontaneous display of innate wisdom mind…
4. Right Action (samyak-karmanta): helpful and compassionate conduct, free from killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct.
- a. Do not do anything harmful; do only what is good; purify and train your own mind: This is the teaching of the Buddha; this is the path to enlightenment. —The Buddha
- A clear perspective on Right Action teaches us that our actions are like seeds—karmic seeds. The commonsense wisdom of the laws of causality helps us understand that apple seeds don’t produce lemon trees.
- The Dalai Lama once wrote “The true religious person … accepts the truth that he or she is responsible for the pleasurable and unpleasurable feelings he experiences, these being the fruits of his own karma [actions].”
5. Right Livelihood (samyag-ajiva): earning our living in a manner that helps, rather than harms, sentient beings.
- …work that helps us live here and now while keeping us connected to a higher, more timeless, reality. Right Livelihood is work that genuinely develops us as we develop it. In an interview, the wonderful poet Maya Angelou defined work as “something made greater by ourselves and in turn that makes us greater.”
6. Right Effort (samyag-vyayama): actively working to overcome our hindrances and negativities, and cultivating our wholesome qualities.
- a. With sustained effort and sincerity Discipline and self-control The wise become like islands Which no flood can overwhelm. —from The Dhammapada (Sayings of the Buddha)
- Right Effort really means spiritual effort. We are working to elevate ourselves, trying to develop more wholesome mind states, while gently striving to go deeper and live more fully. Through this effort we are opening and awakening our hearts and minds, body and soul.
7. Right Mindfulness (samyak-smriti): maintaining awareness of reality as it truly is.
- Keeping Your Eyes Open — The whole thrust of Buddha’s teaching is to master the mind. If you master the mind, you will have mastery over body and speech…. Mastery of the mind is achieved through constant awareness of all your thoughts and actions…. Maintaining this constant mindfulness in the practice of tranquility and insight, you will eventually be able to sustain the recognition of wisdom even in the midst of ordinary activities and distractions. Mindfulness is thus the very basis, the cure for all samsaric afflictions. —From Journey to Enlightenment by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
- Right Mindfulness, the seventh step on the Noble Eight-Fold Path, might even be called the escalator to enlightenment… Consider all the books, articles, and personal-growth techniques reminding us to “let go and live in the moment,” to “be present,” to “live a conscious life,” to “slow down,” and to be “in touch with our feelings.” Conscious presence, here and now, is the lesson of mindfulness. It’s one we all need.
8. Right Concentration (samyak-samadhi): meditation according to proper Buddhist principles.
- The Buddha said that he experienced indescribable bliss, rapture, peace, and transcendence through concentration and that you can too. Right Concentration, the final step on the Noble Eight-Fold Path, involves more than the simple act of focusing… Right Concentration implies a unification of spiritual intentionality, focus, mental discipline, energy, and attention. In Right Concentration we skillfully collect and harness all of our energy so that every part of our being is integrated and focused, working together toward our goal of enlightenment. Once you have arrived at this point, concentration in this sense is not forced, restricted, or fixated, but instead rests naturally where it is placed. Learning how to practice Right Concentration is a little like finding your balance.
Numbers 1-8 are from The Vision of Buddhism by Roger Corless.
Commentary listed as a ,b ,c, etc. are from Awakening the Buddha Within: Eight Steps to Enlightenment by Lama Surya Das.
Three Treasures –
When this existence is personified we call it Buddha; when we understand it as the ultimate truth then we call it Dharma; and when we accept the truth and act as a part of the Buddha, or according to the theory, we call ourselves Sangha. But even though there are three Buddha forms, it is one existence which has no form or color, and it is always ready to take form and color.
— Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
by Shunryu Suzuki
What is taking refuge?
What is taking refuge in the:
Buddha
Dharma
Sangha
Heart Sutra
Maha Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra
Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva
when practicing deeply the Prajna Paramita
perceived that all five skandhas in their own being are empty
and was saved from all suffering and distress.
Oh Shariputra , form does not differ from emptiness;
emptiness does not differ from form.
that which is form is emptiness;
that which is emptiness, form.
The same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness.
Oh Shariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness;
they do not appear nor disappear,
are not tainted nor pure,
do not increase nor decrease.
Therefore in emptiness, no form,
no feelings, no perceptions, no impulses, no consciousness;
no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind;
no color, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind;
no realm of eyes until no realm of mind consciousness;
no ignorance and also no extinction of it
until no old age and death and also no extinction of it;
no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path;
no cognition, also no attainment.
With nothing to attain
the Bodhisattva depends on Prajna Paramita
and his mind is no hindrance.
Without any hindrance no fears exist;
far apart from every perverted view he dwells in Nirvana.
In the three worlds all Buddhas depend on Prajna Paramita
and attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.
Therefore know the Prajna Paramita
is the great transcendent mantra
is the great bright mantra
is the utmost mantra
is the supreme mantra
which is able to relieve all suffering,
and is true, not false.
So proclaim the prajna paramita mantra
proclaim the mantra that says:
Gate, Gate, paragate, parasamgate!
Bodhi! Svaha!
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Spiritual Enrichment Course
Written by Rev. Kim Kaiser
FUKANZAZENGI by Eihei Dogen
“…cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words and following after speech, and learn the backward step that turns your light inwardly to illuminate your self. Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will be manifest. If you want to attain suchness, you should practice suchness without delay.
For (zazen), a quiet room is suitable. Eat and drink moderately. Cast aside all involvements and cease all affairs. Do not think good or bad. Do not administer pros and cons. Cease all the movements of the conscious mind, the gauging of all thoughts and views. Have no designs on becoming a Buddha. Zazen has nothing whatever to do with sitting or lying down.
…You should have your robes and belt loosely bound and arranged in order. Then place…your left palm (facing upwards) on your right palm, thumb-tips touching. Thus sit upright in correct bodily posture, neither inclining to the left nor to the right, neither leaning forward nor backward. Be sure your ears are on a plane with your shoulders and your nose in line with your navel. Place your tongue against the front roof of your mouth, with teeth and lips both shut. Your eyes should always remain open, and you should breathe gently through your nose.
Once you have adjusted your posture, take a deep breath, inhale and exhale, rock your body right and left and settle into a steady, immobile sitting position.”
Count each exhalation up to ten, then begin again
If you lose track, return to 1
Returning is the key to this practice
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