The Truth At The Mountaintop April 7, 2008
Posted by Kedar in atheism, atheist, buddha\, buddhism, desire, east, eastern, enlightenment, hindu, hinduism, india, mahayana, oriental, philosophy, spiritual, spirituality, truth, yang, yin, zen.Tags: buddha\, buddism, enlightenment, zen
add a comment
A monk was walking up a mountain when he met a peasant who was also on the same path. To kill the time, they started talking. The monk told the peasant that purpose of his trip was to find truth. The teacher of the monk had told that he would find the truth at the mountain top. The peasant said it was his daily routine to go up that trail and gather firewood.
As they were talking, the monk started teaching the peasant about the philosophy. The peasant was listening. But every once in a while he would pick up a dried wood stick and add it to the bundle on his shoulder. The monk was slightly irritated that peasant was not paying 100% attention to the valuable knowledge he was sharing. But he kept quiet.
When they reached the mountaintop, the monk asked the peasant “So do you understand what I taught you so far?”
The peasant nodded.
“What did you understand?”
The peasant lifted the bundle of firewood on his shoulder and threw it down. The string tying the bundle broke loose and the firewood scattered everywhere.
At that moment,the monk found his truth and he was enlightened.
–
Explaining a Zen story is like explaining a joke Best is one thinks about it himself/herself. But still let me give it a shot.
Basically what the peasant says is “Let go (of your desires, plans, actions, strategies).”
This is one of the Jataka story and the peasant is Bodhisattva in his previous reincarnation.
We all accoustomed to material world find this perplexing. If you fulfill your desires, then you get pleasure. So why should one let go of them? The point is fulfilling a desire conditions our mind to desire more.
Another way to look at it is like this. If you are unhappy because you don’t have something, then according to Zen, you are unhappy not because you don’t have something, but because you have something. Unhappiness is not because of lack of that thing, but it is because of existence of desire of that thing.
When you “externalize” desire like this, and see that it is like an extra tumor developed on your otherwise perfect mind, it is easier to understand how letting go helps.
“But letting go means accepting you are not capable of it. It’s like behaving a loser.”
Is Zen the way of a loser? No. It is the way of those who know that they have already won.
You Proved Me Wrong ! April 2, 2008
Posted by Kedar in atheism, atheist, buddha\, buddhism, east, eastern, hindu, hinduism, mahayana, objective, objectivity, oriental, philosophy, relativity, spiritual, spirituality, story, subjective, subjectivity, yang, yin, zen.Tags: zen
3 comments
One day a Zen master gave a lecture on philosophy. Hundreds of people listened to him for more than an hour. In the course of his lecture , somewhere he proposed a hypothesis saying something like A is same as B.
One of the listeners was listening intently. After the lecture, he hurried to the master and stopped him. The listener had brought lecture notes and diagrams with him. With much elaboration, he proved to the Zen master that the proposed hypothesis was wrong, and A was not same as B.
The Zen master smilingly nodded. Without a word of argument, he said “Very good. A is not same as B. Very true.” and turned to leave.
“Wait a minute.” The confused listener said. “You have studied all this for a lot longer time than me. I challenged you and disproved what you said and you have nothing to say?”
“My friend, you did not disprove what I said.” Replied the Zen master “You disproved what you heard.”
–
This is one of my favorite Zen stories. We always believe in purely objective interpretation of a information communicated. But almost always there is a difference between what I mean and what you understand. When I say the word “Computer”, the neural reaction that happens in your mind is different than that happens in my mind. That neural reaction is based on our individual experiences, moods, level of knowledge and many many things. Seems we can never escape the layer of subjectivity called individual mind.
Thus what you hear could be different from what I said.
A Tale Of Radha, Krishna and Uddhava – III March 18, 2008
Posted by Kedar in atheism, atheist, buddhism, east, eastern, hindu, hinduism, india, krishna, mahayana, oriental, philosophy, radha, religion, spiritual, spirituality, yang, yin, zen.Tags: radha krishna philosophy
1 comment so far
“Do you mind if I ask you one thing?” Uddhava asked Hesitatingly.
“What?” Said Radha.
“I trust Krishna. But everybody in Bharat wonders one thing. If Krishna had so much knowledge and so much power, why didn’t he stop the Mahabharata war?”
“And how would that be better?”
“Well, obviously there would be no destruction, no death. All the people who died would be still with us. Things would be much more happy than gloomy.”
“Uddhava, had Mahabharata war been avoided, by today may be there were less deaths. But there would be a lot more desire to kill. May be today less destruction, but there would be still violent minds.”
“Krishna did exactly what he should have done. “Radha continued. “He separated people who wanted war from people who wanted peace. So warriors could express themselves, and so could Rishis and peasants. Had it not been this way, everybody would be miserable today. “
“No matter how great leader, king or sage you are, you can’t change what people want. You can’t change who they are. Your best bet is let each one take his/her own course of destiny. Best leaders , may they be leading a government, an ashram or an army, keep interference to minimum. They let people be themselves. They reduce the conflicts between their followers. They will not preach, but those who observe them would be left with nothing but clear understanding.”
“Their touch is subtle, yet lasts for ages. Their vision reaches far. They guide their followers not only away from the danger, but even away from the smell of danger. So the people will never know what they were saved from.”
“This way, the real achievements of the great leader will never be noticed.”
“Indeed it makes sense. ” Said Uddhava. “But it is so ironic. If the real achievements are never noticed, then what’s the point in being a great leader?”
“If getting noticed is your goal, then you are not ready to be great in anything.”
“I need to think and digest this.” Said Uddhava.
—
Uddhava’s bed in verandah offered him a great view of night sky. He was still thinking about the conversation in the day.
“I guess that’s why Krishna never tries to make a maha-rishi out of Uddhava. He just sets Uddhava on the path to become Maha-rishi and keeps him free. Evantually all Uddhavas find their own way to the title. ” He thought.
As his body relaxed, his thoughts slowed down. He aimlessly stared at the sky.
Thousands of stars gleaned in the darkness. Clouds drifted along, hiding one star, showing another.
As the night progressed, Saptarshi constellation arose, their tail pointed to Pole star.
Pole star!!
Silently guiding lost sailors to the land, desert travelers to water. Demanding no cost.
Always there. Always present. Always reliable. Always giving.
Kind of like Radha, he thought.
Then the silence carried him gently to sleep.
The Archer and The Shaking Bridge January 30, 2008
Posted by Kedar in atheism, atheist, buddhism, east, eastern, hindu, hinduism, india, mahayana, philosophy, religion, spiritual, spirituality, yang, yin, zen.Tags: yin yang zen philosophy story
2 comments
One day a young archer went to a village. He started showing off his skill. First he pierced a fruit into exactly two pieces from a long distance. Then he cut the burning tip of the candle with his arrow, without even touching the candle. He could shoot targets at far off distance with excellent accuracy.
The real intention of the archer was to challenge the master teacher of the ashram in the village. The teacher was famous archer when he was young. By defeating the teacher, the new archer would have sealed the title as the absolute best archer in the country.
The teacher knew this, but he didn’t pay any attention. But the archer kept on inciting more and more. Finally one day he stood in front of the ashram and posed an open challenge to the teacher saying “I can do anything you can do, only better.”
The teacher accepted the challenge. He started walking towards the jungle. The archer started following him. They walked and walked till they were in remote jungle. They crossed several mountains and valleys.
At last they came to a river between two mountains. There was no bridge on the river except an old rotten tree that had fallen down across the river. The wood was old and soggy and did not look strong. The river was more than hundred feet below and the current was ferocious.
The master teacher borrowed the bow and arrow from the archer. He slowly climbed on the tree bridge. The wood cracked and pieces fell into the river. But the teacher was steady. He almost walked to the middle. Then he stood there and shot an arrow in the sky.
He walked back and gave the bow to the archer, signaling him to perform the same feet. “Stand there and shoot an arrow anywhere.” he challenged.
The archer started walking on the tree. But his feet were shaking. He could not summon enough courage to look in the river below. And if he tried to look elsewhere, he could not stand steady. As the wood cracked more, he lost his cool and ran back. He accepted the defeat.
“You have good control on the hand that directs the arrow. But you don’t have control over the mind that directs the hand. ” said the master teacher “Till you work on that, you won’t be the best archer.”
Three Pounds of Glory January 28, 2008
Posted by Kedar in atheism, buddhism, eastern, oriental, philosophy, religion, spiritual, spirituality, tao, yang, yin, zen.Tags: zen tao buddhism story spirituality
add a comment
Once a warrior goes to the master teacher to ask for prayers.
“I am going to take part in fighting competition. If I win it, it will bring glory to me and my clan. Please pray for me.” He says
“I will pray for you today. I will pray for three pounds of glory for you and your clan.” replies master.
“Three pounds? I don’t think that makes sense.”
“Why?”
“You can’t measure glory in pounds. Glory is something you just feel inside.”
“So, why are you seeking it outside?”
This indeed is so true for most part of our lives. We feel the pain inside, but we continuously seek the medicine outside. We feel the void inside, but we continuously try to fill it with outside things. Fame, wealth, glory, power, the list is endless. Yet the void remains.
Alan Watts – Conversation With Myself August 28, 2007
Posted by Kedar in alan watts, atheist, buddha\, buddhism, conservation, eastern, hindu, hinduism, karma, mahayana, maya, oriental, philosophy, spiritual, spirituality, tao, yang, yin.add a comment
The story of Tao January 8, 2007
Posted by Kedar in atheism, atheist, buddhism, east, eastern, hindu, hinduism, mahayana, maya, oriental, philosophy, spiritual, spirituality, tao, yang, yin, zen.4 comments
One day I asked myself an important question “Why do I want what I want?”.
Whenever I wanted something, I almost took granted that I am justified in wanting and pursuing it. I explored the world to find fulfillment. However rarely I had explored the intricate world of my desires.
And I thought the story of Tao.
Tao is a person just like you and me. When the story starts, Tao is living in the land of normal people. He is just living normal life. His rating for the world as interesting place to live is 5 on the scale of 1 to 10. 10 is heaven, 1 is hell.
Tao lives in a civilized society, but Tao harbors wild desires in his mind. Desires to have sex with women without their consent. Desires to just overpower people and rob their money. Desires to kill the people he does not like.
Tao’s mind turns in evil machine. One day Tao finds a beautiful woman alone in corner and rapes her. He is prosecuted, but there is not enough evidence. Judge asks him, “Do you want to confess?”
Tao thinks about his options. If he confesses, he has to go to jail. That means wild people, bad food, confinement. If he denies the charge, he walks free. That means free society, good food, no confinement.
Tao lies and says he is innocent.
Next day Tao robs another person.
Again arrest and prosecution. Again not enough evidence. Again Tao refuses to speak the truth and avoids punishment.
Now Tao is so happy. This seems like a good world. You can get everything and do not have to pay for anything. Tao rates the world as 10 , the most interesting place to live.
But now Tao wants more because he thinks he can have more. If the world improved from 5 to 10 in last few years, why should it not improve from 10 to 15? He asks a wise man “How to get more of what I want?”
“You have to be in company of people who think like you” the wise one answers back.
Tao logs on Internet and finds about land of wild people. He boards a boat and lands in the land of wild people. At the first moment, he sees a beautiful woman. He looks around to make sure no cops are in sight. Suddenly he remembers reading that there are no cops in the land of wild people. “Perfect” he smiles to himself and grabs and rapes the woman. “Don’t even have to worry about cops here. What the nice place this world is.” He does his evil routine.
Whistling, he is walking on the street. Couldn’t have been happier.
Suddenly his eyes are covered by somebody’s hand. He is overpowered.
Next thing he knows is he is raped, robbed and beaten.
Lying in dust, he is shocked. He never experienced something so demeaning to human body. Nobody told him anything about this. He was never expecting to get raped.
He blames God. He rates the world, as -10.
The story does not end. In fact the story never ends. Sorry, let me correct. The story does not end unless Tao wants it to end.
Let us take a look at what happens when the story takes another turn.
Variation number 2:
When he is asked to confess his crime, Tao thinks “what is right thing to do?”
His mind answers “Right thing to do is take the punishment”
Tao takes the punishment. He goes in jail, where people rape him, rob him and beat him. Tao comes out of jail. He still wants to be wild. But he knows a lot more about being wild. He does not need to look up on Internet. He knows exactly where is the land of wild people.
He also rates the world as 5.
He goes to the land of wild people. He has fun robbing, raping and beating others. And one day comes his turn. He is robbed and raped and beaten. He lies in dust.
He gets up and walks away. He was never expecting NOT to get beaten, robbed or raped.
Variation number 3:
Tao is still practicing wild desires in the world of normal people, still avoiding punishment. One day Tao goes for cut. A memory cut. People get a choice to decide what memories to keep and what to get rid of. To start fresh life, people get rid of memories but keep desires. Because growing desires from scratch is a lot of work.
Tao takes memory cut. Now he does not remember anything in the past. He still has wild desires. He reads about land of wild people on Internet and takes a boat there. This time, right on the first step, he gets insulted, beaten, robbed.
He lies in dust cursing God. “This is unbelievable. How could this happen to me? What have I done wrong? I don’t remember anything that makes me deserve such atrocities”
Variation number 4:
Same as story number 3 above. But this time Tao has taken his punishment before going for memory cut. He still retains his desires, but now he is not wild about “wild” world, but knows how to live there in case he lands there.
And eventually when he lands there, he does not expect NOT to get raped, beaten or robbed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The story explains in oversimplified terms how the balance and equilibrium between Tao and the world is maintained without any enforcer. Tao chooses conditioning his mind receives and also he chooses the company he wants to keep. If he walks in wild society with a mind conditioned in civilized society, he finds big surprises and extreme drama in this world. If he walks in wild society with his mind conditioned for wild society, he finds harmony and balance and peace of mind even in the midst of hell.
The story creates basis for my further interrogation of the question ‘Why do we want what we want”? Why does Tao want what he wants? For one moment let us keep aside the debate of free will and consider what we want or at least the part of it, our will, has to do with what we are doing.
Tao wants material pleasures. He wants gratification. That is no problem, till he starts wanting things that are essentially in conflict with each other. He wants honor and respect in civilized society without caring to reciprocate those gestures. He wants to think that such a thing is possible and sustainable. From such confusion he eventually finds himself in a situation where he cannot get all what he wants. He creates kind of lose-lose situation for himself.
Next time you find yourself in a situation where you did not have enough good choices, do not blame the world for putting you in trouble. Instead ask yourself how did you end up wanting more than this situation has to offer.
The Duck In The Bottle December 18, 2006
Posted by Kedar in brahma, buddha\, buddhism, east, eastern, hindu, hinduism, india, mahayana, maya, oriental, philosophy, spiritual, spirituality, yang, yin, zen.6 comments
A group of people went to meet a Zen teacher while he was walking in a park. “We want to know about Zen. Please tells us about it.” The most enthusiastic one asked.
The teacher said, “Let me tell you a story.”
“I had a small duckling. I kept it in a bottle. I fed it and kept the bottle clean and took good care of it. The duck grew and grew. One day I realized that the duck has grown too big and I cannot get it out unless I hurt it seriously or break the bottle. So now what should I do if I want to get the duck out, but I still want the bottle intact?”
People started scratching their heads and talking to each other. Time went by. Once in a while somebody would come up with a solution. Teacher would smile and show his disagreement.
After a while teacher called a small girl playing nearby and asked her the same question. “Just break the bottle.” The girl replied without hesitation.
The teacher nodded in agreement and patted her on back. He smiled at the bunch of perplexed faces in front of him and walked away.
I know what you are all thinking. You are wondering if I am suggesting the girl’s answer is the correct one. If I am, then you are ready to pound on me saying “But the teacher clearly said he does not want to break the bottle.”
The girl’s answer is perhaps not correct by definition. Yet she sees something the group of grown-ups fails to see. She sees that it is impossible.
It is impossible to save the duck and save the bottle as well. Yes, people can come up with solutions. Perhaps a machines can be invented to expand the bottle and get the duck safely out, or to tele-transport the duck the way they show in Star trek, or perhaps surgical procedures can be performed that would cut the duck to pieces inside the bottle and join all the limbs again when out.
Yet, we would do a lot of damage by the time we achieve that. To invent such a machine and test it, money worth a lot of bottles would be spent. To come up with perfect surgical procedures, a lot of ducks will have to die in experiments. Usually that’s how we tend to solve problems in our daily life. We isolate the problem from rest of the universe and solve the problem, making a lot of assumptions about the rest of the world.
Can you save both the duck and the bottle by going to extreme means? Yes. Are you really living in better universe after that feat of achievement? Most likely not.
The little girl, who was not yet conditioned by civilization, immediately saw futility of this conquest. She did not convert it in an intellectual challenge. She felt compassion even for the fictional duck. She did not mind ignoring the instructions and risking to look foolish. Her problem is very clear and solution very simple. If the duck is stuck, break the bottle and get it out.
The truth here is that conflict is inherent to life.
We go on telling ourselves that if there is a conflict, then there is something wrong, something needs to be improved, optimized, changed. For example, healthy food usually does not taste good. Tasty food is mostly bad for health. So there is a conflict. Food that is healthy as well as tasty will cost you a lot more, thus conflicting somewhere else. Chase one conflict out, and the other one sneaks in.
We treat these conflicts as aberrations or mistakes. We believe in existence of a physical and mental state eternally free of all conflicts and we continuously strive for such a state.
The truth is, it is impossible to achieve such a state of mind and body by pursuit of material goals.
This is the lesson 101 of Zen Buddhism and overall oriental philosophy. Disillusion of material goals. Rather than shunning these conflicts and trying to impose order on life, ancient Eastern philosophers tend to honor them by calling it the game of Bramha and Maya, or the dance of Yin and Yang. They tend to view the world as the continuous and endless play between two forces, eternally at conflict with each other. Sometimes the duck wins, sometimes the bottle. Sometimes it’s Bramha, sometimes Maya. There is no purpose, there is no end.
This Yin vs. Yang struggle is present in our life as short term goals vs. long term goals, emotions vs. logic, ideology vs. practicality, aggression vs. defense, hate vs. love. Sometimes we swing this way, sometimes that way. That swinging is us, not the swing. The motion is us, not the pendulum.
Initially it might sound depressing. What’s the point in such a broken life if we cannot fix it?
But once we let it sink in, we find a huge sense of liberation. Suddenly it is not necessary to fix things before you enjoy them. Fix it if you like fixing. Enjoy it if you like enjoying.
Once we get it, we stop subordinating this present moment for that fictitious moment of fulfillment in future. We begin honoring the present for what it is. We stop life as an exercise in managing consequences and we start life as spontaneous expression. We stop seeing ourselves as a player. Instead we see ourselves as the game, the motion itself. We stop living in fiction, we start living in reality.
Because Destination is a fiction, only journey is a reality.
