Things do not arise (Candrakirti)

Candrakirti used the argument that inner and outer things do not arise from themselves, from something other than themselves, from both or from neither, i.e. causelessly. Since that covers all four possibilities this argument shows that nothing truly arises. For something to arise, it first has to be absent. The Samkhyas believed that things arose from themselves. Candrakirti refuted this saying that if something already existed, it would not need to arise. Arising has no meaning for something which already exists. The Hinayana Buddhist schools, the Vaibhasikas and Sautrantikas, believed that things arose from what was other than themselves. In other words, one moment gave rise to the next. Candrakirti argued that no connection exists between one moment and the next. A moment arises at the very instant that the moment before disappears. Something that has no connection with another thing can hardly be called its cause, otherwise one could say darkness is the cause of light and light the cause of darkness, just because one followed on from the other.

Since, in this way things arising from themselves and things arising from something else are refuted, one might try to argue that things arise from both. The Jains thought this. Candrakirti argued that such a position has the faults of both the previous positions.

Maybe one would like to argue that things arise from nothing? This would be like the belief of those that deny all cause and effect, including karma cause and effect. Such a school existed in India. They were called Ajivakas and Candrakirti refuted their view by saying that if things arose without cause what would be the point of doing anything? For instance, why should a farmer bother to plant his crops, if causes do not bring about effects? Such a belief, which suggests that everything is haphazard and chaotic, is totally nonscientific.

Maybe a film is a good example of how things are nonarising. We all know that when we see a moving film it is really a series of still frames in quick succession. It may look like one thing is affecting another on the screen but, in fact, except for the sequential arrangement, there is no connection between them. There are even gaps between the pictures. For something to cause something else there has to be a point where they meet, otherwise how could one affect the other? But a cause never exists at the same time as its effect. Once the effect has arisen the cause is past...

-From Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche

This passage really resonates with me, and I actually think it's rather mind-blowing. The way I interpret it, this argument of Candrakirti's shows that conceptual interpretations of reality are inherently self-contradictory, and this is a good prelude to meditation on the emptiness of reality. (Not in a nihilistic sense, but in a nonconceptual sense.) Once you reflect on this passage and see that all rational avenues are exhausted, the mind can rest in nonconceptuality.

Closing the Lower Door

One of the points of meditation posture is "closing the lower door" which basically means that you rock back and forth, right and left before meditation to make sure your buttocks are together. I had the occasion to ask a Lama yesterday whether this means you should refrain from passing gas while meditating, and she said yes. Now I know. I'm going to try this out to see how it works.

Wouldn't it be great if

there were a drug that made you feel sick unless you were helping others? The recreational drugs I am familiar with seem to make people more ego-centered and less interested in the welfare of others. What if there were a drug which did the opposite?

Merton on Inferior Forms of Religion

...[F]ew religions ever really penetrate to the inmost soul of the believer, and even the highest of them do not, in their social and liturgical forms, invariably reach the inmost "I" of each participant. The common level of inferior religion is situated somewhere in the collective subconscious of the worshipers, and perhaps more often than not in a collective exterior self. This is certainly a verifiable fact in modern totalitarian pseudo-religions of state and class. And this is one of the most dangerous features of our modern barbarism: the invasion of the world by a barbarity from within society and from within man himself. Or rather, the reduction of man, in technological society, to a level of almost pure alienation in which he can be brought at will, any time, to a kind of political ecstasy, carried away by the hate, the fear, and the crude aspirations centered about a leader, a propaganda slogan, or a political symbol. That this sort of ecstasy is to some extent "satisfactory" and produces a kind of pseudo-spiritual catharsis, or at least a release of tension, is unfortunately all too often verified. And it is what modern man is coming more and more to accept as an ersatz for genuine religious fulfillment, for moral activity, and for contemplation itself.


-Thomas Merton, The Inner Experience

The religious right immediately springs to mind. Clothing themselves in the exterior trappings of religion, yet mistaking their untamed subconscious for true religion, they ultimately fuel their own hatred and intolerance. Merton suggests elsewhere that the contemplative needs to get to what he calls the "true self," which is beyond our subconscious and, in fact, inseparable from God. The method to do this is the contemplative life, lived in isolation. Merton allows that this contemplative experience is probably the same as that described by Zen masters without using the word God. I wish that quiet contemplation were more of a fixture of modern Christianity, because I think its face would change. That would be a wonderful thing. When I read Thomas Merton, I am much more at home than when I listen to Christian evangelists, who often have an underlying energy of hatred, intolerance and fear. They are stirring the depths of our unconscious, of our libido, but they are not contacting genuine spiritual energy, as far as I can tell. Perhaps I'm lashing out a bit here, but I still believe what I'm saying one hundred percent, and the main point is not how terrible Christian fundamentalists are, but how wonderful it is to see that there is a true Christianity, a genuine spiritual Christianity. When I was in high school, I thought wistfully about becoming a (Christian) monk. I had a couple of reasons. At that point I was clothed in the trappings of religion, calling myself a Christian, and believing simplistic things about God, but not really having a genuine spirituality. I recall ranting to myself as I walked my dog about how terrible people are for not behaving morally, never perceiving that my anger was itself immoral. Not very spiritual; very close to my brothers and sisters in the Christian right at that point! The other reason I wanted to become a monk is that the world scared me. The prospect of getting a job and fending for myself scared me. I figured that being a monk would be an easy way to avoid the pressures of the world. I know now that the life of a monastic is very difficult, but it didn't strike me that way then, and I also know, that at least for Buddhists, it is considered improper or "wrong motivation" to take up the life of a monastic because one needs food or shelter. But anyway, I'm glad now two decades later, that my early aspirations for the monastic life are finding fruit, both in my Buddhist practice and in my appreciation for Thomas Merton.

New look

I decided to revamp my blog using one of the existing templates. The new picture is of the Tian Tin Buddha of Hong Kong, one of many giant Buddha statues in the world. The Leshan Giant Buddha is another example.

Three Year Anniversary

I haven't had a drop of alcohol in 3 years. I remember when going without a drink for a day was iffy.

From the Dhammapada (Sayings of the Buddha)

All experience is preceded by the mind,
Led by the mind,
Made by the mind.
Speak or act with a corrupted mind,
And suffering follows
As the wagon wheel follows the hoof of an ox.

All experience is preceded by the mind,
Led by the mind,
Made by the mind.
Speak or act with a peaceful mind,
And happiness follows
Like a never-departing shadow.

"He abused me, attacked me,
Defeated me, robbed me!"
For those carrying on like this,
Hatred does not end.

"She abused me, attacked me,
Defeated me, robbed me!"
For those not carrying on like this,
Hatred ends.

Hatred never ends through hatred.
By non-hate alone does it end.
This is an ancient truth.


This is excerpted from a wonderfully poetic translation by Gil Fronsdal.