Samadhi: The Meditation of Pure Joy

The cure for anger is simple:
cultivate love and practice patience
in the face of anger, desire, hatred, jealousy
and worldliness too base for comfort.
Show compassion for all sentient beings,
and know that loving kindness leads to
compassion so powerful, it burns away
evil karma until all that is left is merit.

May all sentient beings be happy!
May all sentient beings attain the pure joy of liberation!
May all sentient beings focus on the one-pointedness of mind!
May all sentient beings aspire to attain Buddhahood!
May all sentient beings become determined to be bodhisattvas!
May All sentient beings be loving in the face of anger and hatred!
May all sentient beings remember the kindness of their parents!
May all sentient beings be excellent to each other!

Gone away is this vain grasping self,
for in its place is selflessness as virtue
which drives away selfishness and its companions.
All that is left is the pure joy of liberation.

---

Originally posted on February 21, 2013 at 7:09 AM

Meditation Has Freed My Mind (satire)

Having meditated regularly over the past 20 years or so, I would consider meditation to be a deeper form of prayer that has cleared my mind and aided in gleaning insight from the careful introspection which has accompanied it.

However, meditation is not like addressing God, then making a request of him, and closing with an 'Amen.' Instead, it has been the way that I focus on my breathing, while letting go of clinging to the thoughts which continue on dancing in my head.

While I do not know when I realized that there is no way in the world to stop thinking, it is possible to ignore most of my thoughts, except for the thoughts which I cling to and build into prose about stuff that is very interesting to me.

By letting go of clinging to my thoughts, I arrive at what might be called "no-thought" as in "no thought do I cling to, lest I forget about meditation." Having not clung to a single thought, it is like I have been freed from thinking itself.

It is as though the freedom that meditation provides is found by rendering sedate the mind so that it can clearly see the way, rather than being distracted by the monkey mind, untrained and striving for freedom.

For freedom exists within the framework of rules. Without rules, there is only licentiousness, the mother of true chaos.

Yet that chaos can be rendered null and void through meditation, which clears the mind and helps to focus it on liberation from the very same rules that helps the devotee reach Nirvana.

Only then can the devotee let go freely without regret, knowing that all those years of sitting on his ass has paid off.

For meditation has freed my mind from thinking, so that I may think more clearly about specific thoughts such as liberation of the mind. It begins with the thought that the mind is essentially free to think, and does so almost all the time while I am awake.

Perhaps when I am asleep, the mind may think but I am not aware of those thoughts, even though they may arise during a dream.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, i have actively meditated for over 20 years. When once it was difficult to meditate, quite possibly because I was doing it wrong, now it is almost too easy to meditate and enter the "zone". The key to meditation is to smile with joy, and work from there.

Too often have I seen stern-faced meditators trying to achieve satori. Believe me when I tell you, a smile might make the difference between thinking and being freed of clinging to thinking.

Indeed, a smile leads to liberation.

Buddhist Mysticism: The Art of Surrendering

Surrendering

Quotations from Dennis Genpo Merzel

In our practice, really to fail, once and for all, to fail absolutely and completely: that is it.
(p. 112)

"Practice" refers to Zen meditation. Failure is the essence of surrender.

When you give it all up, you get it all. You end up losing absolutely nothing, other than some well cherished opinions and ideas.
(p. 39)

"Give it all up" refers to surrendering. By surrendering the ego to Zen meditation, the rewards are many: happiness, love, patience — these are all transformed into their positive forms.

The very effort to stop the ceaseless movement of thoughts keeps us stirred up. Just give up all this effort to stop thinking! Fruitful effort is to let go of effort. Strive to stop striving! When you do, everything settles by itself.
(p. 31)


Why try to stop the ceaseless movement of thoughts then? There is no point in trying to stop thinking. It is easier to follow each thought as they come and go. By letting go of "stop thinking", the calm mind arises eventually. This is what is meant by "everything settles by itself."

And what really happens the moment you say, 'OK, thoughts, come up, I welcome you!' Suddenly there are no thoughts! What is happening? 'Come on, thoughts, where are you?' Except for an occasional blip, they stop arising.
(p. 96)

When the Zen practitioner becomes open to the ceaseless movement of thoughts, all of his thoughts will leave him less stirred up. In the end, he shall achieve "no-thought" with little effort. Even when he goes looking for them during the practice, the movement of thought no longer distract him.

It is a simple fact: whatever you resist will persist. If you are resisting suffering, you suffer more. If you are resisting confusion, you remain confused. If you are looking for peace, you find yourself constantly disturbed. If you are seeking after clarity, you are in a muddle. If you do not want to be angry, you are going to walk around angry. If you do not mind being angry, you will never be bothered about anger, because you will not be holding on to it. Having no opinion for or against, just being open to whatever comes, you are free.
(p. 97)"

By resisting change, the thinking mind will continue. That which you resist may cause its opposite to arise, be it suffering, confusion and even peace. The Zen practitioner ought not mind being angry until he is no longer bothered about it, due to letting go of it. Likewise, to neither be for or against the opinions you hold dear, is true liberation.

By surrendering to the ceaseless movements of thoughts, I develop the ability to rise above them and not let them stir up my feelings.

Thus, letting go of "thinking" by returning to "breathing", no-thought is achieved.

Despite the ebb and flow of "just thinking", it is still possible to be free of their influence. By not minding being angry, I am able to let go of anger.

By not clinging to anger, I am free of it.

Indeed, by not clinging to thoughts, true freedom arises.

This is what the art of surrendering is about.

---

Originally posted: October 17, 2003 3:27 AM

Enlightenment as Liberation from Judgment (humor)

In the beginning was the universe, immaculate and free.

Then one day, humankind arose and through their superior intellect, created gods to support their elites' lust for dominance.

Through further refinement, a few of these elites simplified polytheism into monotheism and religion was created in humankind's image.

Later, good and evil was socially constructed as pre-existing human history with two distinct avatars called God and Satan, following a neo-Platonic model, despite the fact that before human existence, whatever that happened in the universe was most likely neutral i.e. neither good nor evil.

Yet nobody in their right mind would yearn for a world free of good and evil. At the best, the ideal is to be nonjudgmental. For this is the greater good.

To achieve that then is to reject religion because of its inherent reliance on an imaginary friend, and to choose an atheism which allows a few of its adherents to sit on their ass in contemplation of a universe that is the ideal of the greater good.

By doing so, these contemplative atheists help establish the art of being nonjudgmental to free others of prejudice.

Free from Karmic Destiny (poem)

Free, free, free are we
when Awakened &mdash free to be
unborn like a babe.
The Tathatagharbha is
Ultimate Reality,
a metaphysical womb
into which we are reborn,
free to travel to
an almost infinite number
of Pure Lands as Buddha.
as immaculate as the Unborn.
Having Awakened from Ego,
Nirvana is where anything
can happen, but few of us
can experience this freedom
due to karmic destiny.

from Zen Master Dogen's "The Practise of Meditation"

In your meditation you yourself are the mirror reflecting the solution of your problems. The human mind has absolute freedom within its true nature. You can attain your freedom intuitively. Do not work for freedom, rather allow the practice itself to be liberation.

— Practice of Meditation, Dogen (1200-1253)

"In your meditation" refers to zazen with the objective being liberation, the freeing of the mind from conditioning, which arises as a result of socialization. The objective of meditation is to act naturally, rather than act as though being a social being is normal. For the truth is, normal is relative to the situation.

When we act as though a sentient being is the norm, what would meditation be but something boring?

"You, yourself" refers not just to the disciple sitting in zazen meditating, but also to his original nature.

"The mirror reflecting" refers to the pure mind attained through breath meditation, which is purified by being calmed until the clear mind arises. This is seen as clarity of mind.

"The solution to your problems" refers to the assumption that the disciple's own mind has the answer to all of one's problems. Also, "solution" refers to the liberating aspects of meditation. Thus, "problems" refers to the lack of attention and focus due to socialization, where distraction is the constant. For it is possible to "get lost" on this journey called "life."

"The human mind" refers both to cognition (manas or specifically manovijnana) and also the higher state of mind (alayavijnana) found through meditation after gaining control of the ego (manas-vijnana). This higher state of mind is said to store the seeds of karma yet it does so without discriminating between good and evil karma.

"Absolute freedom" refers to the liberating aspects of satori that arises as a result of the calm mind reflecting on insight into the problems of human life, which are due to lack of attention and focus due to causal factors such as personal conduct (how you conduct your life) and the distractions of daily life (work, go out with friends for dinner and similar activities).

"You" refers to the disciple.

"Attain" refers to the result of meditation, using the calm mind achieved by just sitting quietly to gain insight and relying on gut feeling.

"Your freedom" refers to the liberating aspect of meditation. Once the mind is calm, it becomes as clear as a pond of water. Such a mind is able to gain insight readily into the nature of the disciple's problems.

"Intuitively" refers to intuition, which involves the use of gut feeling to free the disciple from being caught up with his problems.

"Do not work for freedom" refers to seeking freedom by vainly striving for a solution almost by chance, relying not on intution but almost by blunt force. Working for freedom also implies forcing a solution. Often this indicates that mental calculation went into discovering the solution to the disciple's problem, only to have the it itself grow into more problems.

"Allow" refers to considering the circumstances of my problems, based on open-mindedness — the feeling that anything is possible.

"The practice" refers originally to meditation; but also it refers to mindful practice, which consists of being of service to others, and implies the willingness to help other sentient beings.

"Itself" implies that meditation is foremost the solution to the disciple's problems.

"Liberation" refers to satori, the "A-ha!" moment when the solution to my problems arises, just like that. This is possible with single-minded focus on the fruits of insight which result in samadhi. In context with Zen, satori is the closest term to liberation.

---

Reference:

Original post: February 21, 2004 0208H
Update posted: March 11, 2013 1141H

January 04 Journal - Zen Readings, "On the Way", The DailyZen Journal: http://www.dailyzen.com/zen/zen_reading0401.html

Ego: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manas-vijnana

Bodhi Mind as The Mother of Liberation

Clearly aspiring for buddhahood, the disciple arouses the Bodhi Mind, for the sake of all sentient beings — like a bodhisattva incarnated as a Buddhist worthy of nirvana who postpones it to help others — with the determined longing to attain complete enlightenment — like a buddha who has achieved the state of perfect enlightenment, nirvana.

Compassion is the cause of Bodhi Mind, while the root of compassion is loving kindness.

Through the practice of loving kindness, the Bodhi Mind is aroused with clear determination for buddhahood and aspiration to be a bodhisattva to help all sentient beings.

To develop loving kindness, imagine your mother right before you while the following thought is brought to mind,

"My kind mother produced this body I have, an effort which caused her a lot of hardship and trouble. She gave me this precious life, taken care of me, and performed every single action needed for my survival in this world.

"Regarding me with a love greater than she had for her self, she protected me, and gave me all the help and support that I needed to grow up. When threatened by harm, she protected me, which is a great kindness. It would be truly amazing if my mother was happy and at ease, but it is not just my present mother — in all my countless lives, I have had mothers who have done exactly the same, loving mothers who have bestowed on me the same kind of help and love.

"This happened not only once, as a mother, but also countless times as a friend, a lover, and a companion. All these people have helped me in all kinds of ways. Thinking of my mother who is very dear to me and helped me, I now want to return her kindness."

Aroused in our hearts by such a thought, loving kindness should become a distinct and truly real feeling.

---

References:

• Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche & Tulku Adeu Rinpoche, Skillful Grace: Tara Practice for Our Time
  

Pure Joy of Liberation

Enhanced by quiet meditation,
pure joy takes the disciple
the journey from ignorance to
wisdom through the mindful practice
of loving kindness — treating
all sentient beings with kindness,
and patience until compassion
uncovers the treasure of Buddha Nature.

When I uncover Buddha Nature,
that same pure joy arises in my heart,
yet I dare not blow my horn
lest anyone who has an "Aha!" moment
be disturbed by my happiness,
for this is the pure joy of liberation.
Such moments are a blessing
to us all, when they happen.

Though, if I had such a moment,
I would have doubts, because
the joy after meditation is
different from the manic happiness
that comes from an awful place.
True happiness is buoyed by the joy
attained through meditation.

For such joy is due to liberation
be it through chanting or via zazen.
Either practice helps one develop
the samadhi called one-pointedness,
until one achieves Nirvana.
If this happens suddenly or gradually,
then would it be easy or difficult
to achieve the goal of Buddhahood?

For both the Zen master
and the Pure Land devotee
aspire to become bodhisattvas
and are determined to
attain Buddhahood, though
this is not for the lazy and indolent,
but for the wise along us.

Ultimate Liberation

Because of Birth and Death,
Develop the Bodhi Mind;
With deep Faith and Vows,
Recite the Buddha's Name. — Elder Master Ch'e Wu


"Birth and Death" refers to samsara, the cycle of birth-life-death.

"Bodhi Mind" refers to the mind awakened to the spirit of Enlightenment. It consists of two aspects: the determination to achieve Buddhahood and the aspiration to rescue all sentient beings.

"Faith" refers to the faith in the Primal Vow and the belief in Amida's Pure Land.

"Vows" refers to the 48 Vows of Amida Buddha.

"Buddha's Name" refers to the name of Amida.


Reminded by suffering and death, the Buddhist's current practice is for the goal of ultimate liberation, to save himself and others.

At first glance, the previous statement seems depressing and sad. However, it is actually the affirmation of two facts of life: people do suffer and fear death.

Thus suffering and death motivate the practitioner to seek liberation from suffering and death.

Liberation is achieved through Buddha Recitation and meditation by freeing the mind from suffering and the fear of death.

Buddha Recitation helps free the practitioner from the fear of death by affirming the Primal Vow. With his rebirth in the Pure Land fully assured, the fear of death of removed.

Meditations helps free the mind from suffering by calming it. Once calm, the mind is able to clearly see hope where once suffering offered despair.

Through instruction and practice, one learns to let go of the thoughts in one's mind, clinging to neither positive nor negative thoughts.

Without clinging to thoughts, one is able to produce good thoughts which lead to good karma (actions).

For example, I am currently thinking of joy. The good action is viewing the world as a good place to live. This leads to a positive outlook on life. I am ready to greet the day. Nothing can change my mind about this.

Freed of suffering, I am able to choose to think good thoughts and remain focused on them.

Like the Essence of Dharma (poem)

Hard it is to be born poor,
even harder to accept is
becoming poor when once rich.
Free are creatures small
that fly about or crawl,
but freer still is Man.

Liberation is a process binding
all sentient beings to samsara,
yet freeing the one thing
sentient being have: consciousness.
For it is the consciousness
that Nirvana frees, not the soul.
For consciousness is non-self,
and on contemplating
the whole universe,
is contained within the heart-mind.

When such joy is found,
easy is the peace of mind
regardless of want.
Craving thus ended is gone,
replaced by calm abiding.
Easier is acceptance
of one's lot in life,
to not strive needlessly, lest
the joy of being
is traded in for gold.

For the joy of being is
more precious than gold itself.
It is more precious
than the sweet life.
Those who have never tasted
the sweetness of life
are free of mental caries
which lead to sadness —
they know the Void is all things.

For the Void is the Buddha womb
which gives birth to peace,
within your heart-mind, but calls
out to you calmly,
that peace called Buddha Nature.
All "I", "me", or "mine"
are but conceptions, not things
which last forever &mdash
If "I" truly existed,
it would always weep
for lack of profit, but then
the selfless know well
the folly of such delusions.
If "me" existed,what would be
the point of "you" except
to make the world less lonely?
If "mine" existed, would that
allow "yours" to share?
Thinking these conceptions things,
each of us is free to choose
the delusions or let go
of it, to uncover peace of mind.

With peace comes the calm mind,
achieved through careful contemplation
whilst letting go of conceptions,
and holding onto nothingness,
the seed of well being,
freed in spite of strife,
close to the struggle called life,
yet closer still in the midst of
physical poverty to the endless process
called by many names: freedom,
joy of being, letting go, liberation...
Ignore the distraction of egoistic Love,
lest it be the death of Nirvana.

Holding tightly, the ignorant fear such freedom —
death overtakes everyone.
And yet, the Buddha
Shows a shining example.
Letting go, the seeker is free
to explore nothingness,
which is filled with potential
far greater than death:
the pure joy of peace of mind!

Where once these words first brought fear,
they shall bring joy on the retelling.
Contained within what was written is like
the essence of the Dharma,
but feel free to doubt this.
To anyone who fails to research anything
written here, and, in fleeing, hides
behind disbelief: walk on with lack of faith
but respect the Buddha as the mother of boundless joy.

Lose Yourself and Abandon Ego (meditation)

Lose yourself and abandon ego.

Instead, be embraced by truth, by reality, as-is without discrimination between either-or, but well-versed in the power of the otherness that encompasses all, just as it is.

All thought of "I am" is rooted in the either-or paradigm which deludes all sentient beings corrupted by this impermanent floating world of samsara - few understand this vital truth of life.

Indeed, few of us find true freedom and liberation as described by the Thus-come One, the Buddha Siddhartha Gotama. Instead we find only suffering and sorrow, yet mistake it for happiness and peace.

No-thought is preferable to calculated thinking, always devising ways of survival that are contrary to the truth as-is, which result in a false reality.

So lose your attachment to the self; abandon all endless craving.

Yet be mindful of the mind, cultivating mindfulness through daily practice and meditation to be free of all delusions of the spirit.

The World's Divine (poem)

As a child, the world's divine,
and perfect in every way
for my heart was once unstained.
Then I grew up, and clearly saw
my world is not so perfect,
and such ideals were all in vain.
Through endless practice,
calm insight liberates me
from perfection's stain.
Freed from ideology, one is able
to show respect for all life, and
to see the world as divine, once again.

Nembutsu and the Liberation from Suffering

At the root of Jodo Shinshu is Name-calling, uttering the Nembutsu.

It is about gratefulness to Amida Buddha. In uttering the Nembutsu it is not the practitioner but Amida calling through hir.

Apart from the religious aspects, Jodo Shinshu is non-denominational in that all can benefit from seeing prayer or spiritual worship as the High Power calling/working through you.

This also goes for dance, especially related to spiritual activity, and moderate social drinking.

For the human spirit derives benefit in seeking liberation from human suffering in a manner that benefits all.

Joy Arises

In the unthinkable, inscrutable, ordinary nature of reality there is no difference between freedom and bondage. No matter what arises, when you perceive your original nature, the joy arises automatically--and what joy!

-Shabkar, "The Flight Of The Garuda"

It is prudent to remain full of joy as much as possible.

Freedom and bondage should not determine nor be a condition of your joy.

Thus is it the intense focus of meditation on one single thing in one's life that help bring about this joy spontaneously.

This is the fruit of true mind control.

Bliss versus Happiness

Ignorant craving leads to egosense and is the root of all suffering.

Emotions and feelings are side effects of suffering -- while they appear to cause suffering, essentially feelings are the result of suffering. Even happiness dependent on attachment to external conditions.

Thus the mind itself, when freed of suffering, is devoid of emotions and unattached to feelings.

This is the ultimate of liberation.

Yet the resulting effect of liberation is not lack of feeling or blunting of emotions. Rather, it is the penultimate bliss, the pure joy, happiness without attachment.

Indeed, this is true happiness.

The Dalai Lama on Individualism

Human beings have all the potential to create good things, but its full utilization requires freedom, liberty. Totalitarianism stifles this growth. In a complementary way, individualism means that you do not expect something from the outside or that you are waiting for orders; rather, you yourself create the initiative. Therefore, Buddha frequently called for "individual liberation," meaning self-liberation, not through an organization. Each individual must create her or his own positive future. Freedom and individualism require self-discipline. If these are exploited for the sake of afflictive emotions, there are negative consequences. Freedom and self-discipline must work together. -- page 44, The Dalai Lama, Advice on Dying: and living a better life (translated by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph. D.)

Yes, indeed! We have the potential to create good things.

Without freedom and liberty, what good we create may be trampled by uncaring people.

In the political realm, totalitarianism wipes out individual freedom.

So too does right-wing conservatism.

As an individual, what good is expecting something good from the world to happen to you?

While awaiting the orders of a master, does that not make you less of a disciple and more of a slave?

Of course, most of us admire initiative from one person out of many, to do good for others.

In doing so, the spiritual seeker learns how to discipline herself, with the hope that what help she may provide will inspire others to help others in return.

This is the seed of self-liberation, and is on the right path to nirvana.

By doing so, the seeker creates his positive future.

All it takes is freedom and self-discipline.

Subdue Yourself, and Discover Your Master

Love yourself and be awake —
Today, tomorrow, always.

First establish yourself in the way,
Then teach others,
And so defeat sorrow.

To straighten the crooked
You must first do a harder thing-
Straighten yourself.

You are your only master.
Who else?
Subdue yourself,
And discover your master.

-from the Dhammapada

First Noble Truth: Life is Suffering (A Poem)

1) Suffering and sorrow is
all this floating world knows.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow,
we have no concept of Now.

In our delusion, we think
we are free, caught up
in strife, ignorant of history.
No one knows what, when,
where, who, why, or how.

Yet there is a Light boundless
from across the Ocean of Peace,
a bright and shining beacon,
where both gods and men confess:
"Boundless Life is He."
With open arms does He beckons,
offering compassion and mercy to all.

All we need to do, all we need to say
to join the Land of Bliss, is:
"Namu amida butsu."
Then truly are we assured,
and all our worries cured,
that Nirvana is our path.

2) Suffering and sorrow is
all this floating world knows.
Forget yesterday and tomorrow!
Live for here and now!

Cut through delusion, and become free.
Take a hold of your life, and abandon misery.
For there is a cure to
suffering, and here is how:

All we need to do, all we need to say,
to join the land of Bliss, is:
"Namu amida butsu."
Then truly are we assured,
and all our worries cured,
that Nirvana is our path.

---

When I wrote this poem in January 1998, I'd reflected long about the First Noble Truth of Buddhism. Today, it still holds true.

For suffering is what provides each of us with challenges in life.

Although life is full of suffering, it is what each of us does in our life for the good of others which helps us all.

The "ocean of peace" refers to the concept that samsara is nirvana i.e. that this life provides the spiritual answers to resolving the challenges each of us faces.

Thus, the resolution of the First Truth -- life is suffering -- is found through the sudden revelation of spiritual enlightenment (nirvana).

My faith in Amida's mercy and compassion is validated by mindful reading of the sutras, and diligent, mindful practice of both chanting and meditation.

For in doing so, I am mindful of the Buddha -- through Amida comes the Buddha's blessings.

As well, the devotee ends each day with a quiet look over what had been accomplished.

shameless and liberation (poem)

When the mood seized me
I excused my indiscretions
without guilt or shame
as generosity --
Who am I kidding but me?

No shame, yet guilty of acts
exposed to the world,
this shameless fool lost his roots.
What right does he have
to tell others how to live?

My decision is
mine, and mine alone - Forget
all regret and grieve
the loss of integrity.
You are not alone; you are free!

How free are the passions, dear
to their slaves tonight!
Look at them squirm, suffering
needlessly, the truth
ignored, their desires hot.

Am I free to live?
Do I live to be free of
all my desires?
No, though I err as human,
this divine spark forgives me.

In all sense of forgiveness
from passions am I
freed, calmly detached, unbound --
Rising above shame,
liberation seizes me!