Feeling more, not less

[RichardH]

This week there was news of a mass execution in Iraq. Those who calmly carried it out recorded it and posted it. Politics aside, seeing this kind of thing I feel it more deeply than ever before. It doesn't mean getting depressed or thrown off balance, but it is felt more. When i was younger i would look at images of cruelty and suffering and feel it, but there was also a separation or layer of insulation. That layer of insulation is gone. At the same time there is a bigger context, and it doesn't confuse. It is the same with seeing joyful things, seeing people happy and having a good time. I do not need to be personally participating, just seeing them happy is enough, like a wedding party taking pictures in the park the other day. I don't know if this is due to practice, seems so, but it could also just be getting older. Whatever the case I am grateful for all of it. It is more alive.

Has anyone had a similar change happen? ...what does it mean? Thanks.

Gassho Daizan

[Ishin]

Daizan

When my son was 3 he would get up on the back of the sofa and jump off the back of the couch and yell "In free and yon" ( three year old interpretation of Buzz Lightyear). His concern of where or how he would fall didn't seem to occur to him. It freaked me out. Now that I am a parent and I see my kids do things, I think back to the stuff I used to do when I was younger and I think, thank goodness I am still alive.

Perhaps with practice and age comes wisdom. We look with sadness at what the world is doing to itself and know how terrible it really all is, and at the same time unnecessary.

Your sadness at these events is mine, and I think not only of the victims, but the perpetrators, and realize we are ALL victims in this.

Gassho
C

[TimF]

I feel it more deeply than ever before. It doesn't mean getting depressed or thrown off balance, but it is felt more. When i was younger i would look at images of cruelty and suffering and feel it, but there was also a separation or layer of insulation. That layer of insulation is gone. At the same time there is a bigger context, and it doesn't confuse.

In my humble opinion, I think that this helps to show just how interconnected we all really are. Maybe you feel it more deeply because you are more aware of this deep down inside.

Gassho,
Tim

[Hans]

Hello Daizan,

it means you are beginning to open up. The pain will get worse and worse and more frequent in one way, yet you will learn to deal with it more and more as well. We've all been raised to not identify with the other, when in truth there is no ultimate separation in Buddha nature.

Remember Top Gun...and how the Russians always wore helmets that wouldn't show their faces?

Your tears are Kanzeon's tears...and in order to turn those tears into a call to action, to really embody and express Kanzeon, we all have to find ways in which to make Samsara a better dharma practise ground for everyone involved! ALL of them, even those ISIS guys. But make no mistake, Samsara's nature is to be raw and dissatisfying. That's why we have to awaken and realise our innate Buddha nature.

Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen

[Meishin]

Hello Daizan,

I read that during a public event, the Dalai Lama heard a woman's account of atrocities in her village. He was seen to weep like a baby. Moments later he tugged at the beard of one of two bearded clerics he was introduced to. He laughed like a child. Nothing was held back, it seems.

Gassho,
John

[Nindo]

Has anyone had a similar change happen? ...what does it mean? Thanks.

Yes, I have ... I don't know what it means. It just feels right. I find tears welling up sometimes during the morning news. I feel sorrow for victims and perpetrators alike. I feel joy and sympathy for people who are celebrating or just having fun. I feel proud of the achievements of young people in our community.
While I can still be very judgmental, I seem to allow more openness, immediateness at times. I am grateful for this, too.

Gassho,
Nindo

[Geika]

After my grandpa died was when I stopped being able to separate what was happening to other people from myself.

[Kyonin]

Hi Daizan,

That happens to me as well. Living in this country where injustice and separation seem to be the way of life, one gets the opportunity to practice all the time.

Sometimes I cry. Sometimes not. Like them or not, I just understand things and keep on practicing. Sitting.

But then a little cat playing makes me happy.

Kannon is always present.

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Entai]

Your sadness at these events is mine, and I think not only of the victims, but the perpetrators, and realize we are ALL victims in this.

Gassho
C

Clark, you made an important point. Despite my political views, I try to remember that these acts are born out of anger and ignorance. All of our suffering is water from the same poisoned well.

Gassho, Entai

[Roland]

I'm 54 now and I'm a journalist for 28 years. Far from becoming more cynical, I empathize more with the victims and the suffering. I think it's part of my spiritual development but also a consequence of getting older. I also feel sorrow for the perpetrators. So often they are young men, denying their own humanity, killing themselves slowly as they forget how to empathize with others. Sitting is a moment of freedom for me - freedom from hatred and from being overwhelmed by it all - a way to center myself again.

Gassho, Roland

[Shinzan]

Daizan et al,
For me, this is Avalokiteshvara hearing the cries of the world. And thru this practice, cultivating the capacity to hold all the pain (and joy) of life. The only way is by being available, being vulnerable to it all, the pain of the slain and the pain of the slayer. And vulnerable to my pain as a witness, the vicarious trauma as well. And yet, still being able to discriminate that harming others is wrong. Taking appropriate action to prevent harm, especially to little kids who want to fly.
This practice does seem to tenderize me.
_/\_ Shinzan

[RichardH]

Thank you for these responses. The heart is more open, and anger at other people doesn't have traction for long. There is getting caught up in stories all the time, but they also pop like bubbles all the time. Swept away with the wave of a fan. Each morning can be a new morning, and each face a new face. The story of the Dalai Lama is beautiful... Time to cry is time to cry, time to laugh is time to laugh, no stain on Mind.

Gassho
Daizan

[Heisoku]

Thank you for this Daizan.
The sight of those rows of men lined up brought me so much sorrow for those lives about to be wasted, the ignorance that brought this about and the fact that this has been going on, particularly in this region, for thousands of years. It makes our practice of bringing compassion and wisdom into our lives (and hence into the lives of those we meet) so much more important. Each action a drop, but drop by drop even granite will erode.
It reminds me of the first chapter in Norman Fischer's book on Lojong where training in the preliminaries is described as understanding the preciousness of human life, the inevitability of death, the inescapability of suffering and for me the awesome and indelible power of our actions. It makes each of our actions so important. It still hurts though.
Gassho Heisoku.

[Geika]

And metta for all victims.

[Heisoku]

Yes Amelia!
Gassho.

[Myosha]

Metta for all.

Not two but one.


Gassho,
Myosha

[Geika]

Metta offered for one is always offered for all.

[Jundo]

Yes, this way Open the Heart. Kannon is that which hears the cries of all Suffering in the World, responding with Hands of Compassion ...

http://www.treeleaf.org/sit-a-long/w...ra-kannon.html

This Way allows Equanimity and radical Acceptance and Allowing ... yet is never an either/or proposition. Some people confuse "non-attachment" with being "detached". One can simultaneously know the broken heart AND the Heart of Wisdom which can never be broken.

I often say that Buddhism (especially in its Mahayana flavors) is not about being passionless, cold, disengaged and detached from life. Rather, it is more like knowing "passionate-equanimity", "cool-heat" "engaged and active stillness" "joy & peace even as the tears flow" and "freedom from attachment right in our attachments".

The best of both worlds, as one world.

Gassho, J

[Joyo]

Jundo, would you say the "passionate-equanimity" and "freedom from attachment right in our attachments" is Kanon then? The reason I ask is that, ever since I was a child, when I hear of terrible suffering, it's as if I take it on myself, feel their pain and suffering, to the point where it causes me tremendous suffering.

And, much metta to all those involved in this very sad tragedy.

Gassho,
Joyo

[Jundo]

Hi Joyo,

I believe that Kannon is Concern and Compassion AND the Peace and Equanimity of Buddha at once. This is why, in the Heart Sutra, it is Kannon (Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva) who is practicing the "Perfection of Wisdom" and thus "realized the emptiness of all five conditions and was freed of suffering."

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...t-Book-is-Here

And likewise for any social worker, nurse, addictions counselor, foreign aid worker, parent of teenagers or school teacher and the like. I have seen more than one such person get so lost in the suffering and seeming impossibility of "rescuing all the Sentient Beings" that they drown, burn out, give up. Or, they grow callus, cold, jaded in order to keep working.

I do not believe either extreme is the best course to (as in our Four Vows), "save all sentient beings, though beings numberless ... transform all delusions, though delusions inexhaustible."

We rescue the suffering folks all while knowing there are no "separate folks" in need of rescue, no hole to fill in the Empty Whole. There is no job to do from the start and no goal ... yet we do it with sincerity and energy ... and do it with dedication, even though the goal may be impossible!

Through this Way, one comes to see the world as if one way through the left eye, one way through the right eye ... both together the Buddha Eye.

Thus, I preach ... "passionate-equanimity", "cool-heat" "engaged and active stillness" "joy & peace even as the tears flow" and "freedom from attachment right in our attachments".

Gassho, J

[Joyo]

Thank you very much, Jundo. That is very helpful. I've found with working in the schools, working with kids that come from not the best of home lives, has actually helped me to develop seeing the world through both eyes, thus the Buddha eye.

Gassho,
Joyo

[Heion]

Thanks to all for sharing. I guess one of the big things for me when observing scenarios like that is the thought 'that could be me'.

On one side, one can view it as a practice of compassion. But, in my humble opinion, one may also view it as a way to be grateful for where we are now (finding joy in my sorrows is something I've been big on recently). Of course, we should still try to help them too.

It is funny that some of the most selfless acts have the biggest impacts on making us feel happier

Gassho,
Heion

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[Heisoku]

Thus, I preach ... "passionate-equanimity", "cool-heat" "engaged and active stillness" "joy & peace even as the tears flow" and "freedom from attachment right in our attachments".

Thank you Jundo

Gassho. Heisoku

[Ongen]

Hi Daizan,

I recognise that too, I feel it does have to do with the practise. Great, isn't it!

Sometimes I think my wife and kids think I go insane when my reaction to something happy or funny or sad is more intense that way, but I feel it also gets a lot easier to translate to them why and what's happening.

My eldest son (11) just asked the other day if he could have his own zafu so he could meditate and experience the world without these layers of thoughts too

Without these layers everything is quite simple!

Gassho

Vincent




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[Meishin]

Hello,

Thank you all for your teachings. It is sometimes difficult to see from the right and the left eye. This is a beautiful poem that helps.

http://www.quietspaces.com/poemHanh.html

Gassho,
John

[Byokan]

I have these feelings as well. I have a little practice that cultivates it, in fact. I read about this somewhere, a million years ago, don’t remember where. It's become a habit. When I see someone and feel resistance, I say to myself, “this too is me”.

Someone does something terrible? This too is me. Dirty stinky drunken homeless guy standing too close? This too is me. Whiny four-year-old driving you crazy? This too is me. Uncle Joe spouting ignorant and offensive nonsense at the family BBQ? This too is me. Victims? Perpetrators? Anyone who suffers -- this too is me.


Likewise, it goes the other way too. Happy bride in the park? This too is me. Your favorite athlete scoring the goal? Me. That person you so admire? Hey, that’s me too.


Of course there is no “me.” Practice develops the larger context that Daizan spoke of, so you can feel this oneness without getting lost, caught up, or losing the center. It’s the bigger context that allows you to feel these things deeply, and then act with compassion.

Gassho
Lisa

[Geika]

Gassho, Lisa