Hello James,
--- James Haines <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> No, I have no doubts about this; I know what's in
> the classic Buddhist
> textbooks (Rahula, What the Buddha Taught; Nhat
> Hanh, The Heart of the
> Buddha's Teaching; Williams, Buddhist Thought;
> Sheng-Yen, Hoofprint of
> the Ox to name a few, since scholarship seems to be
> important to you
> and I'm not ashamed of having read them). And I know
> that
> anatman/anatta is the name of the Buddhist game (as
> you phrase it). I
> would venture, though, that what's come down to us
> about denial of
> self is a theory--and theories tend to be quite
> well-formed, but not
> exactly the way things actually work. (Consider, for
> example, what's
> written in books about "our government"--be it
> Canadian, American or
> Finnish--and how we are actually governed, how our
> laws are actually
> made and enforced.) You did, if I remember
> correctly, ask in your
> earlier post for people's personal take on this, not
> for a parroting
> of what's in the texts.
You are right, and I apologize for reneging on my
initial question. I was actually rushing to explain
how the Buddhist teaching is, indeed, based on the
doctrine that negates the self, since some people
seemed to think that it was a wrong premise to begin
with. But your answer, stemming from your personal
experience, is really a good one, and I'm impressed
with your willingness to 'think outside the box', as
the saying goes.
In reply to your impression that scholarship is
important to me, I wouldn't myself go that far. Yes, I
do have strong academic background, but that's not
necessarily always a drawback. My only concern is when
I meet Buddhist practitioners who don't think it
necessary to know anything about Buddhism. In my
teaching career, I've met some practitioners who have
been practicing Buddhism for over 30 years but didn't
know even the most basic tenets of the Buddhist
teaching. It was a shock for me, sort of like meeting
a well-rounded life-long Christian who has never heard
of the Ten Commandments, or the Old Testament.
Practicing Buddhism at the anecdotal level, at the
level of 'heard it through the grapevine', or 'read it
in some new age book', is invariably the recipe for
trouble.
I also like your cautionary words about the theory,
and its place in practical life. I absolutely agree
with you on that. Buddhist teaching is the most
self-effacing and at the same time most self-assured
teaching there is. And why? Because it fully admits
that it is only a hollow theory, a Mickey Mouse
bed-time story concocted in order to help deluded
beings find the gate. Once the gate is found, leave
the theory behind, don't ever look back, and walk
freely through the gate into the world of absolute
freedom.
> This brings me to ask you, Alex, who you present to
> your students as
> an example of the truly selfless or anatman-type
> person. How do you
> help your students see how that person bring anatman
> to life in their
> daily doings?
This is an excellent and a very enlightened question!
I'll explain now what is it that I'm doing to address
that.
In my classroom, I start with quoting the Buddha from
the 'Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines':
"The place in which one takes up, bears in mind,
preaches, studies, spreads, demonstrates, expounds,
explains or repeats this perfection of wisdom, in that
place beings cannot be hurt by men or ghosts, nor can
they be injured or overpowered by them, because this
perfection of wisdom makes the spot where it is found
into a true shrine for beings, worthy of being
worshiped and adored, into a shelter for beings who
come to it, a refuge, a place of rest, and final
relief."
By reciting this, I create a sense of calm and
security, that pervades our classroom. Each and every
student's mind is appeased by these powerfull words,
as the practitioners begin to feel settled, secured,
blessed in their good fortunes to be sitting there,
listening to and learning about the radical wisdom
propounded by the Conqueror. Now nothing can threaten
or hurt them anymore.
Once such mind gets generated among the students, it
becomes very easy to perceive this truly selfless
person. That person is then none other than each
individual student him/herself. The cravings have
stopped, the perceptions have stopped, and with them
the dispositions. Not having any dispositions to cling
to, the students immediatelly realize the peace, the
selflessness, the bliss of clarity.
There is no more efficient method than that one. Even
if I could magically invite Shakyamuni Buddha himself
to visit my class as a demonstrative example of the
fully enlightened perfectly selfless person, his
example would still be less convincing than one's own
example (remember, people have walked away from and
reviled even the Buddha himself). In other words,
realizing selflessness and compassion in oneself is
the most potent antidote for treating the miseries of
the conditioned life.
> If your students could be guided to
> see such a person
> and discover how that person lives, they would
> surely no longer find
> the theory of denial of self baffling.
This is absolutely true. Once they experience that
person within themselves, they have tasted the water
and know if it's tepid or cold. Nothing baffles them
anymore.
> I think the
> example person
> would have to be chosen with care, though. Pointing
> to the long dead
> who have become semi-mythologized like the
> historical Buddha or the
> Fifth Patriarch would probably not be as convincing
> as pointing to the
> woman in the check-out line or the man on the corner
> (or, as some on
> the list have been doing, to their own living
> teacher).
Absolutely true, again. And again, nothing is more
convincing and more potent than experiencing that
selfless person within ourselves.
> > if someone claims to be a
> > genuine Zen practitioner while openly despising
> > 'intelectual nit-picking' that Madhyamika brings
> > about, I'd say that person needs some more
> > instructions in his orientation.
>
> I certainly agree with you there. My point was
> simply that different
> sects have different atmospheres and one who enters
> a group (as you
> and I have done with this one) needs to mirror or at
> least be politely
> aware of group ethos. It's the sort of
> self-monitoring that stops
> Canadians and Americans from blurting out every
> observation that comes
> to mind when they cross that long border and enter
> their neighbouring
> country. (If you know Finland's geography, you'll
> understand that we
> say even less when visiting our neighbours.)
I agree. Desperate times demand desperate measures.
Alex
No karma was produced during the composition of this letter
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