Two and a Half

In the commentary I'm reading on the Heart Sutra, there is an intervening chapter on "Seflessness in Context" which I'd like to quote from.

What the text means by "perfection of wisdom" is a direct, unmediated realization of emptiness that is also called "ultimate bodhichitta." This is not the direct realization of emptiness alone; rather it is the direct realization in union with bodhicitta---the aspiration to become a buddha in order to free all beings. ... The bodhichitta aspiration is twofold, comprised both of the wish to help others and the wish to become enlightened so that one's assistance will be supremely effective.

I'd like to pass along a technique I read in Pema Chödrön's "Comfortable with uncertainty," for cultivating bodhichitta. This can be done in the middle of meditation or whenever. Start by saying "I desire happiness and the root of happiness for myself." Then repeat this for a loved one or a close friend. "I desire happiness and the root of happiness for X." Then repeat for a more distant friend. Then for someone you are indifferent to. Then for someone you dislike. Finally, repeat it to encompass everyone "I desire happiness and the root of happiness for us all."

Anyway, back to the Heart Sutra commentary.

In addition to negating the concept of an eternal and absolute self, Buddhists also deny the naïve sense of self as master of the body and mind. Since Buddhists claim you cannot find any self beyond the physical and mental components, this precludes the possibility of an independent agent controlling them. From the Buddhist point of view, the non-Buddhist conception of self as an absolute, eternal principle reinforces the mistaken instinct to believe in a self that controls our body and mind.

It is the paradox of consciousness. I can be an observer within my own mind, self-referentially looking at it and exploring it, but that exploration is also the product of my mind, not some incorporeal soul pulling the strings. I want to be comfortable in my own mind because that's my most intimate home. It will never be "perfect," though. I will never be able to maintain a perfect code of ethical behavior, even though i would like to. I am constrained by my human nature. Similarly, I will never be rid of anger, sorrow, fear and other seemingly undesirable emotions. These are part of me, because they are part of my mind. However, my understanding of the enlightened way, is that these emotions can be allowed to pass through my consciousness, and give me an oppurtunity to observe them in action. They eventually pass, especially if I don't actively resist them. If I resist anger or disappointment, I will tend to repress these emotions so they develop into resentments, and warp my character. Allowing the anger and resentment to arise without self-criticality of self-judgment, but instead with self-awareness, they can pass through.

So according to Buddhism, it is not the case, as we tend to believe in our naïve understanding of the world, that one event causes something, and another condition at some later point brings about the thing's cessation. In other words, Buddhism does not accept that things first come into being, remain in an unchanging state for a period of time, and then suddenly cease to exist.

Everything is impermanent. A house when it is built carries within it the seed of its cessation. We know for a fact that it will eventually cease to be, even though we have no idea by what method. I also like the idea in this quote about how cause and effect are not as simple as you might think. Even if I were to bulldoze the house, can we really say that my bulldozing it was the 'cause' of its destruction. Aren't there millions of other causes working in concert? The fact that I have the desire to bulldoze, the fact that the weather was appropriate, the fact that bulldozers exist, the fact that the laws of physics are just right, the fact that I didn't die on my way to the house, etc etc. Although, we often think that one cause has one effect, this is never the case. Everything is a complex, interdependent web. Despite the complexity, there are certain absolute truths, one of which is that everything which arises, also ceases.

Finally, some words about karma:

Karma refers to actions undertaken with intention....An action, such as making offerings to the Buddha, may conventionally be positive, but until we have overcome ignorance through the direct realization of emptiness, that action is still contaminated and in the nature of suffering.

Some people think of karma in a supernatural way. If I do something bad, I will eventually be repaid with something bad happening to me. In a way, this is true, but not in a supernatural way. If I perform an action with a hateful intent, I will reap the consequences of my hatred as it sits and festers in my own brain. This is true, even if my action is not perceived by others as hateful. As soon as I actualize any hatred I have within me, then it cannot pass through me unobstructed, but instead remains within me.