More Thoughts

This section includes some more ideas in Buddhism. There are many lists in Buddhism, and, like all religions, many ideas in Buddhism can be traced to the culture in which it arose (initially India/ Hinduism) and/or the cultures where it spread. The words and teachings themselves are simply tools- use the tools as necessary for the practical uses of the mind in daily living. Science and logic are excellent tools for the thinking mind, and while many ideas in Buddhism don't necessarily contradict science and logic, they can go beyond the realms of science and logic. Develop a practice beyond words, thoughts, concepts, and ideas- this helps to "see the world as it is, not as we wish it to be."

There are many other resources available (books, internet, articles, groups, videos, etc.) to explore these things further if needed.

Of note, different schools of Buddhism may have variations of these (or not even consider them important).

Three Poisons

1) desire/greed/craving

2) aversion/anger/ill-will

3) ignorance (delusion)

Desire/greed/craving – if I just had XYZ, things would be good

Aversion/anger/ill-will – if I could just avoid/ get rid of XYZ, things would be good

Ignorance/delusion – lack of awareness of the above and of the sources of dukkha

If we observe ourselves and others, we can observe how the above lead to dissatisfaction/suffering/dukkha, and, from a psychological perspective, we can observe thoughts and behavior in the context of the above, along with Maslow's hierarchy, mental conditioning, and evolutionary biology, and perhaps better understand and learn from our behavior and that of others.

Purification of the mind includes cleansing the mind of the three poisons. Nirvana (nibbana) has been interpreted as the quenching of the three poisons (“the simplest definition of nirvana-in-this-life is “the end of greed, hatred, and delusion””) and more broadly as the extinction of all concepts. Nirvana can be understood simply as the liberation from suffering/ dukkha.

"Nirvana means extinction, above all the extinction of ideas — the ideas of birth and death, existence and nonexistence, coming and going, self and other, one and many. All these ideas cause us to suffer. We are afraid of death because ignorance gives us an illusory idea about what death is. We are disturbed by ideas of existence and nonexistence because we have not understood the true nature of impermanence and nonself.

We worry about our own future, but we fail to worry about the future of the other because we think that our happiness has nothing to do with the happiness of the other. This idea of self and other gives rise to immeasurable suffering.

In order to extinguish these ideas, we have to practice. Nirvana is a fan that helps us extinguish the fire of all our ideas, including ideas of permanence and self. That fan is our practice of looking deeply every day."

"Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the present, and cross over to the farther shore of existence. With the mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and death."

Be aware of the three poisons and practice "mindful gaps" before reacting to stimuli:

HALTs- are you Hungry/craving, Angry, Lonely, Tired, Self-centered?

RAIN- Recognize thoughts/feelings, Accept/Acknowledge thoughts/feelings, Investigate/Insight of thoughts/feelings, Non-identification/Non-attachment of thoughts/feelings

STOP- Stop, Take deep breaths, Observe (what you are sensing/ thinking), Proceed with mindfulness- this is a good practice for red lights, lines, etc., whenever you "stop"

HEAL- Have positive experiences, Enrich/amplify positivity, Absorb/ receive positivity, Link/ associate behaviors and thoughts with positivity- have it (positivity) and enjoy it (but do not become attached or crave such that it leads to dukkha/ hedonic treadmill or addiction)

The five “aggregates” (khandas/ skhandas)- the development of "ego"/"self":

1) form/ body (physical- the body and senses)- identification with the body creates the sense of "self" and the idea of separateness- the egoic mind develops from identification with form and creates "I/me/mine" and "other"

2) feelings/ sensations (valence)- the body has experiences, emotions and sensations, that are broadly characterized as pleasant, neutral, unpleasant (or like, indifference, dislike)- there is a spectrum from strongly pleasant/ liking to strongly unpleasant/ disliking

3) perceptions: recognizing and categorizing sensory input and experiences- perception of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, bodily impressions, and mental objects; perception takes place in relation to an object (or thought) and does not exist independently of an object of attention or thought

4) mental formations: thoughts, beliefs, intentions, attitudes, and preferences that are a large part of how we understand and interact with the world, labeling/categorizing, "good," "bad," "beautiful," "ugly," etc., and volitional mental actions triggered by objects or thoughts; includes intellectual speculation, confirming or interpreting ourselves, putting ourselves into certain logical, interpretive situations

- positive mental formations: lovingkindness (metta), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita), equanimity (upekha), mindfulness (sati), insight (panna)

- negative mental formations: fear, anger, despair, discrimination, greed, hate, dullness, error, conceit, envy, selfishness, worry, shamelessness, recklessness, distraction, sloth, torpor, perplexity, disinterestedness

- neutral mental formations: can be positive or negative depending on context, thinking, attention, feeling, perception, volition

5) consciousness- awareness of the above- one way to look at consciousness is as awareness of the above and how you respond to the above - contemplate consciousness as an expansive field with the seeds of all of the above and the results of watering those seeds.

One could lump perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness into one "consciousness" and separate the breath out to make a different "three aggregates" - body, breath, and consciousness.

Now, which of the five aggregates above is “self?” Where, exactly, is the thing we have been conditioned to call "self?" All the factors that make up our physical form and our "experiences" are dynamic, fleeting, impermanent, and dependent on other "things"- they are conditioned phenomena (sankhara). The "sense of self" that has been shaped by natural selection for preservation and propagation seems real but it is only an inference of inputs to and interactions within the brain- there is no actual separate, independent "self" - the five aggregates are the components that help create the sense of self, but these are all impermanent and are connected to and totally dependent on all things which appear to be separate from us (but can perhaps be perceived as an all encompassing "Self," a "oneness" of all things). A definition of "mind" that may be useful here is mind = brain, body, and surroundings - your brain is a processor modulating the interactions with your body and your surroundings- "separateness" is an illusion. But we are capable of metacognition and meta-awareness- we can observe such things without necessarily identifying with or being attached to them.

Food for thought- what was "our" nature before the big bang? The essence of all things we now perceive as separate was there as "One" just in different form/energy- our "separation" after the big bang into various manifested forms has been a constant evolution/ changing of matter and energy, particles and waves, yet we are all, ultimately, offspring of and part of one universal, "eternal," "family" of matter and energy, particles and waves.

"Emptiness" (sunnata) means that all phenomena are empty of the concepts by which we grasp them and fit them into our world, empty of all our projected meanings. All things are perpetually changing and devoid of permanence, thus they are "empty" of any permanant meaning. "Emptiness" of "self" refers to the absence of what is perceived as some permanent and separate "self" and the underlying non-separation of all things. This is part of seeing things as they are, not as we wish them to be.

"Emptiness" doesn't mean nothingness, it means no-thingness. It means that if we look closely at anything or any person, we will discover there is no solid, lasting, independent form- there is a vast network of causes and conditions, particles and waves, ceaselessly arising and dissipating as dynamic interactions, perceptions, and causes and effects. The natural selection and culturally ingrained sense of an independent self (illusory self), with its attached I, me, mine, etc., is at the heart of all strife and suffering, internal and external.

"Any kind of form whatsoever, Rahula, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near- having seen all form (feeling, perception, formations, consciousness) as it really is with correct wisdom thus: "This is not mine, this I am not, this is not myself," one is liberated through non-clinging..."When one knows and sees thus...the mind is rid of I-making, mine-making, and conceit, has transcended discrimination, and is peaceful and well liberated."

Three Doors of Liberation

1) emptiness- everything is empty of separateness; everything is interdependent, a dynamic chain of causes and effects. The simplest description of emptiness in the Buddhist teachings is this sentence: This is because that is. A flower cannot exist by itself alone. To be can only mean to inter-be. To be by oneself alone is impossible. Everything else is present in the flower; the only thing the flower is empty of is itself.

2) signlessness- a sign is some perception that you put into a conceptual box; signlessness is a-nimitta, "a-" here is a negation, it means "not," so the English translation "signlessness" doesn't mean I found something that doesn't have a sign, it means everything I think is a sign is really a not-sign; "where there is a sign, there is a deception," "where there is perception, there is deception;" for example, when we look up at the sky, we see a particular cloud, but if we look long enough, it seems the cloud we are looking at disappears, the cloud has become rain, mist, or snow, and we don’t recognize it anymore, but in fact our cloud is still there, just in different form.

3) wishlessness (desirelessness, aimlessness)- the underlying Sanskrit is apraṇihita, praṇihita means to reach for something, so it's about how we interact with reality, we reach for it, we want to hold it, know it, understand it, sometimes we want to have it (desire), other times we want to get rid of it (aversion), but to do any of this we have to reach for it first, and as with signlessness the "a-" at the beginning of our 3rd Door of Liberation is negation- that wisdom practice is not reaching; aimlessness means you don’t put anything in front of you as the object of your pursuit, what you are looking for is not outside of you, it is already here, you already are what you want to become, concentrating on aimlessness releases your longing and craving for something in the future and elsewhere.

Beyond all forms and the conditioned is nirvana: "This is the supreme peace, this is sublime calm: The stilling of all formations, the silencing of all mental construction, the relinquishing of all substrata fueling existence, the fading away of all craving, detachment, release, ceasing, Nibbāna."

Five Remembrances:

1) I am of the nature to get older (change)- with life, aging (changing) is inescapable

2) I am of the nature to get sick, I cannot escape sickness

3) I am of the nature to die, I cannot escape death

4) All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change, there is no way to escape change and being separated from them

5) My actions are my only true belongings- I inherit the results of my actions- of body, speech, and mind

Dependent Origination

Everything is the result of multiple causes and conditions. These aren't necessarily linear in cause and effect but are "inter-dependent" causes and effects that occur in every moment of our lives, within ourselves and on larger scales. Dependent origination is very similar to operant conditioning and the cycle of trigger, behavior, and reward.

"When there is this, that is.

With the arising of this, that arises.

When this is not, neither is that.

With the cessation of this, that ceases."

1) ignorance/lack of awareness (avijja)(not realizing what is moving us moment to moment, perceiving impermance as permanence, presumption of a separate self)

2) volitional impulses/formations (sankhara) (organization and shaping of thinking in accordance with accumulated habit energy)

3) consciousness (vinnana) (awareness of all sensations that arise through the senses)

4) name and form (nama-rupa)(cognition and physical aspects of individual existence)

5) six senses (sal-ayatana)(see, hear, smell, taste, touch, think)

6) contact (phassa)(meeting of senses, an object, and consciousness)

7) feeling (vedana)(pleasant, unpleasant, neutral)

8) craving (tanha)

9) clinging/grasping (upadana)

10) becoming (bhava)(formation of identity or self)

11) birth/ emergence of an identity (jati)

12) aging and death (sense of loss, change, passing away of a state of experience) (jara-marana)

Being bound to these links in a cycle is called samsara. We can break cycles at any point in these links. The fuel of cycles is the three poisons, greed, anger, and delusion, and the fuel to break the cycles is reflection, ethics, and faith (in ourselves and the process of the eight practices). Reducing ignorance impacts the whole system as does interrupting feeling reactions.

"Our task, in life and in death, is to realize we always have a choice- we can fall asleep into unawareness and stay stuck in the repeating cycle of samsara or we can wake up."

Five Moral Precepts/ Mindfulness Trainings

1) Reverence for life, protect life, avoid violence

2) Refrain from stealing or exploiting, practice social justice and generosity

3) Practice responsible sexual behavior, refrain from misusing the senses

4) Practice deep listening and kind speech, refrain from disharmonious speech

5) Practice mindful consumption, for all your senses (including the mind)

Three Essentials/ Threefold Training

1) Concentration/ Meditation- developing the ability to concentrate and focus tame the "monkey mind"

2) Morality- frees the mind up for concentration

3) Insight/ Wisdom- unobscured vision, stepping back and seeing sources of dukkha, realizing our innate nature

These three can be viewed as a stool with three legs- it cannot stand if one is absent. Morality helps clear the mind of obstacles. Wisdom includes understanding and realizing our innate nature- unborn and undying- “birth” and “death” are mental constructs of unending changes in the universe- when we are attached to our sense of self and other things our innate nature is obscured.

Three Dharma Seals

1) Impermanence- everything is constantly changing; nothing has a permanent, independent existence

2) No self- no permanent, independent "self," "we" are fluid extensions of the matter and energy of the universe

3) Nirvana- extinction of all notions and ideas, when we are "free from notions and concepts, including the concept of permanence and impermanence, we arrive at freedom from suffering and fear- this is nirvana, the kingdom of God."

(add dukkha for "Four Dharma Seals")

Types of Attachments (underlying sources of dukkha)

1) Sensual attachment- desiring/clinging to anything we perceive with our senses (including our minds)

2) Opinions

3) Rites, rituals, rules

4) Selfhood

Four Agreements:

1) be impeccable with your words

2) don’t take anything personally

3) don’t make assumptions

4) always do your best

Three Doors of Liberation:

1) no self (or, no independent self)- everything is interconnected and interdependent- “self” is an illusion- we are all part of the same energy and matter that has existed for eons, and all things are dependent on all other things- we came into existence and continue to exist because of interactions beyond our "self"

2) signlessness- outer appearance = “sign,” and signs are deceptive and not reality– “where there is a sign, there is deception”- do not be attached to or mislead by “signs;” “the symbol of a thing is not the same as the thing itself;” four "signs" = self, person, living being, life span; self and nonself are the same, humans and nonhumans are the same, living and nonliving are the same, life span is illusory, there is no birth and there is no death, just continuation

3) no goal/ aimlessness/ wishlessness - no object of pursuit – “having no destination, I am never lost” – one can have goals, but how attached are you, what is your intention, why are you pursuing it?

Four Expressions of Goodness

1) soft and beautiful thought

2) soft and beautiful behavior

3) soft and beautiful speech

4) soft and beautiful action

Seven Factors of Enlightenment

1) Mindfulness

2) Investigation (dhamma vicaya- investigate the dhamma, the of nature of existence, the manifestations of reality, the teachings)

3) Energy (viriya- zeal, enthusiastic effort)

4) Happiness (freedom from craving)

5) Tranquility (of body and consciousness)

6) Concentration (focus such that sense of self disappears and subject and object are one)

7) Equanimity (evenness of mind, not pulled by pleasure or displeasure)

Four nutriments leading to dukkha or happiness/well being- consume/ feed on these wisely

1) edible food

2) sense impressions- anything derived from senses

3) intention/attachment- find peace, joy, contentment, etc., in the present moment- the sky, a tree, a flower, life, etc.- don't get lost in intention or attachment to things in the past or the (unknowable) future

4) consciousness- be mindful of how the above become part of your consciousness- feed your consciousness with wholesomeness, peace, compassion, joy, love, equanimity- avoiding feeding your consciousness with greed, hate, ignorance, suspicion, pride

Four Hallucinations of Perception

1) Interpreting impermanent as permanent

2) Interpreting unattractive as attractive

3) Interpreting unsatisfactory as satisfactory

4) Interpreting non-self as self

Six Paramitas:

1) giving

2) mindfulness trainings (five)-

a) protecting lives of other living beings,

b) preventing exploitation of other living beings,

c) protecting children and adults from sexual abuse and preserving happiness of individuals and families,

d) practicing deep listening and loving speech, and

e) mindfully consuming

3) inclusiveness/ patience/ forbearance- capacity to receive, embrace, and transform insults, anger, suffering, pain, etc. - be mindful and look, listen, and contemplate deeply - practice understanding, forgiveness, and kindness- practicing the four immeasurable minds (love, compassion, joy, equanimity), will give you a huge heart and develop inclusiveness

4) diligence/ energy/ continuous practice

5) meditation

6) understanding/ wisdom/ insight

Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings:

1) Openness

2) Non-attachment to views

3) Freedom of thought

4) Awareness of suffering

5) Compassionate, healthy living

6) Taking care of anger

7) Dwelling happily in the present moment

8) True community and communication

9) Truthful and loving speech

10) Protecting and nourishing others

11) Right livelihood

12) Reverence for life

13) Generosity

14) Lovingkindness

Vicissitudes of Life/ Eight Worldly Concerns

1) gain and loss

2) fame and disrepute/insignificance

3) praise and blame

4) pleasure and pain

Recognize these as impermanent, bound up with suffering, and subject to change- break the cycle of bondage to such things and their associated suffering

Two Truths

Relative truth (worldly truth) and absolute Truth:

Contemplate a wave- a wave forms and disappears - if you were a wave, imagine you can perceive going up and down, feel the wind at your back, etc.- these are your relative truths, relative from the perspective of the wave. And each living being has its own experiences on the waves- its own "relative truths."

Beyond the relative truth is a deeper truth, the absolute Truth- the wave is water. We are all like waves as part of an ocean of the sum of all things- in that sense, we are all part of the same "whole" and we have no beginning or end.

Eight Bodies (The Art of Living, Thich Nhat Hanh)

the human body (it carries within it "the stars, the moon, the universe, and the presence of all our ancestors");
the Buddha body ("our capacity to be awake and fully present, to be understanding, compassionate, and loving);
the spiritual practice body ("all of the spiritual practices and insights that have brought me healing");
the community body ("a source of support and a place of refuge");
the body outside the body ("the ways our practices and actions are non-local and used by others);
the continuation body (our words and actions that influence the world and have a long-lasting impact upon others);
the cosmic body ("We are inside the earth, and the earth is inside us." and "In every moment of our life the cosmos is going through us, renewing us, and we are returning ourselves to the cosmos.");
the ultimate body (beyond appearances and signs, the true nature of the cosmos, which cannot be described in notions, words, or signs; the nature of reality itself, beyond perceptions, forms, signs, ideas. all eight bodies are united, waves within the ocean, interbeing with all other waves, all other water).

Three Gates to Liberation (Mahamudra)

This involves "non-meditation," letting go and not striving- the discovery of non-volitional space, where we stop striving and trust the fullness of what is already present- don't do, just be.

1) Do not fabricate

2) Do not meditate

3) Do not be distracted

One can use the mantra "let go, let go,....."

Four phases of Mahamudra- one pointedness, simplicity, equanimity, non-mediation - at non-mediation, non-grasping and open relaxation are baseline.