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First, I want to take a quick moment to direct you to this article at Yahoo discussing the rise of Buddhism in the US.  It’s the 4th largest religion in the country currently.  It’s a nice, long article that is really well written I think, and very much worth taking a few minutes to read.  This includes a brief mention of those who actually retain then "home" faith, while incorporating Buddhist principles.

I found this daily meditation from a couple days ago particularly interesting, after comments I made in one of my previous meditation blogs.  The timing was just very good I thought.  There, I discussed how one might be able to see some Truth at any given point in time, but that its true form and meaning can be somewhat distorted until we learn to see past some of the complications that occur due to dhukha.

Those two sentences lay out this concept better than I think I was able to do with a whole blog.  The term "clarity" very well represents, I think, the feeling and idea of what we pursue.  Clarity is a concept that I believe applies to more than just ideas, but rather it implies freedom within any kind of perception and interpretation.

So, the pursuit of freedom from dhukha outlines as part of it’s goal, the achieval clarity.  That opens us to the freedom to take in what is around us without taint, and without noise.  In interpersonal communications you learn the process of transmitters, receivers, channels, and noise.  Any time people work together, there will always be some degree of noise in the channels they use to communicate.  When we achieve clarity, however, we gain the ability to eliminate that noise, and perform pure communication (this assumes communication with a like person, otherwise the counterpoint would still create their own noise.  This would affect them, but not you).

Imagine a world like that.  One where point and counterpoint interact without complication.  Where they may interact without belief in hidden motives, in agendas, or with fear of being misunderstood.  These are the benefits having clarity of perception provides.  This is what makes it such a valuable tool, and worthwhile pursuit.  You might not make it now.  Those in the monastic followings spend years upon years over several different periods in their lives studying and meditating on this very thing.  But it can come to anyone with time.  And perhaps you don’t find it, but you can learn to turn down the noise some.  Clarity is not an all or nothing entity.  It’s something you can work on, improve, and hone.

Yay for me! I made my first Facebook group. It’s nice and Buddhist themed for all the Pitt people who would like to link with the rest of us in the area.  I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of standing on street corners yelling to ask if anyone knows any other Buddhists around here.  I invite anyone interested to come join in (even if you’re not Buddhist). And if you’re not interested, pass word on to any friends that you think might be interested.  Just click your mousey doodad here.

Why do you do what you dowhen you do those things you do?  I’ve had a couple conversations with people regarding my use of things like the word "morals" in my past couple blogs.  That what I call Truth and they call morality are intrinsically the same thing.  I explain that morals are a reflection of the society in which they are created.  Truth is different than that.  However morality may contain some truth nonetheless, but Truth is not morality.  This [morality] is just one aspect of a mechanical behavior.

Why do we do what we do?  Why make the choices that we do?  Most people do it simply because it is what they are taught.  Human nature is to accept things without question in a lot of instances.  Once we do that, once we accept a rule as imperative, we react to situations where it is involved like a knee-jerk reaction.

Imagine for a moment children being indoctrinated into Mujahideen.  News agencies have shown film of little children, 5, 6, and 7 years old who will proudly proclaim that they want to be Mujahideen.  They want to kill people so they can go to heaven.  The search for Truth forces us to question this philosophy, as it’s patterns are a source of dhukha.  But these children are conditioned to not question.  They are programmed to provide a mechanical response and serve a purpose.  Many are eventually raised into being suicide bombers, because they are so brainwashed, they will do whatever they are told, and they are of much use beyond that.  It is an awful process, but one supported, encouraged, and built by the society and it’s religious, political, and military leaders.  To them, that is moral.  That is their code, their pattern, and their norm of behavior.

One important aspect we must maintain on the path to enlightenment is that we have to maintain clear vision and never respond to something out of impulse or reflex.  Time can wait for us.  Be conscious of your surroundings and what is happening.  Evaluate and make a decision that is educated based on what Truth tells you.  If an intruder breaks into your home, one social reflex would be to capture and punish that person (how many people do you know keep guns for home protection and would use them?  Probably more than you think).  You might shoot him, or beat him.  You do this out of fear and because society tells you that it is okay to severely hurt a person who invades your home.  Instead, call the police, try to trap the person, or capture them in a way that forces submission, but minimal harm.  Remember, they have as much right to be given the chance to learn and grow from experiences as you do.  This is why it is important to forego impulse and conditioned responses.

Sometimes society is wrong.  Tommy Lee Jones has a few lines in Men in Black (bear with me) where he say: "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."  Don’t trust society and tradition to tell you how to live and make choices.  You have the power to do that yourself, and often times in a manner better than you could have in the first place.

The past few blogs I’ve posted in this vein have all been very simliar, in that they all have drawn heavily on the concept of what Truth is, and how you find it.  I have discovered that this is the case largely due to the fact that it is, after all, one of the primarly goals of Buddhism.  By understanding what Truth is, and by learning to See it, you can find the end to dhukha.  So it is natural that many different things would be attached to the idea, and that a lot of time is spent studying and reflecting on it.

Truth isn’t just something you reference from time to time.  It’s not something that pops up when you need it, or a fact that floats in a book waiting to be researched.  Truth simply is, and the realization of that fact is a singular event.  Truth is what can guide every act you do.  I have discussed before that morality isn’t a good basis for choices.  You shouldn’t choose how to do something based on what societies or laws say.  You do it because by knowing the Truth of those actions, you understand all at once the consequences.

And sometimes you know that it might not be the best.  As the saying goes, truth hurts.  Truth might mean knowing that someone you love is going to make a decision that will have poor kharmic influences, or that you will have to choose between two things that will hurt others regardless.  Eventually however, you can seperate from that.  It’s not that it "hurts" so much as you understand what Truth is, and that you must make the choice that is best for everyone.  Until we have perfected our ability to See, the "human filter" applies the sense of dhukha to choices we make because we understand the Truth.  Imagine wearing glasses that were not quite your perspective.  You can still see things in front of you, make out where you are going and such, but the view is still twisted and off a little.  If you take off those glasses though, suddenly your site returns to a normal and much more clear state.  You still see what you saw before, but now without the added influence of the bad glasses.

If making those choices bothers you, it is because you have not yet reached past the entire understanding of Truth.  You still define your choices with some regard to the dhukha they possess.  You’re still wearing the metaphorical incorrect glasses.  With practice, that can stop.  And educated choice should never hurt.  What you learn is that Truth doesn’t cause dhukha, Truth is the solution to it.  We just have to train ourselves to understand and use that.

So, today I have discovered a level of miserable I don’t know that I’ve ever had to go through.  I thought I had strep throat, the doctor says no though, as did the test, which I guess is good, except that my throat is killing me.  Hardcore.  Talking is like a form of punishment.  Anyway, he gave me pills and hopefully it’ll wear out in a day or so.  In the down time, I decided to try a new blog trend.  After yesterday’s exposition, I decided to try something new.  Every few days or so I’ll post a meditation point, and how I see it as an evolving Buddhist.

If you are interested, I am using the site amidabuddha.org as a source for these quotes.  They offer a news feed of daily meditations as well, which can be good for a glance each day.

One of the most important realizations on the path to enlightenment is the discovery that what we imagine when we say "I" and "me" doesn’t truly exist.  As long as one believes in self, you remain attached to concepts like self-preservation.  This idea, like fear, desire, and affectivity are anchors.

The concepts that Wei Wu Wei notes are just some of many constructs we create.  Like in the movie The Matrix, you can view them like "programs" that we ourselves design to maintain an illusion to which most people are wholly attached.  Some so much, that they cannot and will not release themselves of the constructs so that they might see past self and into Truth.  Eventually, however, all entities build throught the cycle of rebirth the power to free themselves of that.

What we do, is chase solutions to those manifestations.  If you desire something, what solution do you pursue?  Do you try to get what you want?  That is a normal reaction.  The flaw is, what happens when you have what you want?  Most people’s normal reaction is to desire something else, maybe a new thing, maybe a bigger or better version of what they just got.  In effect, they have locked themselves in, rather than freeing themself.

Instead, the solution is to See beyond the manifestation.  The Truth is not that we should stop desiring, but rather that desire or other manifestations are just that, a manifestation that we use to lie to ourselves to maintain the illusion that the problem isn’t what we want or how we feel, but the fact that we ourselves don’t really exist.  We cannot free ourselves from the manifestations, we must free ourselves from ourselves.  The reason that we create the manifestations is so that through them, we build evidence to present to ourselves that lends credibility to the bigger illusions we wish to maintain.  The I.  Once we have successfully broken that routine, seen past the barrier, we see that the real illusion is actually the self-sense, and Truth is that self is the real barrier.

Recently, my chosen preference of belief has come up as a point of conversation.  Not in a bad way or anything, just the natural flow of things.  But something it made me realize is just how much people on the outside don’t understand it.  Or more to the point, how much people outside anything don’t understand that which they are on the outside of.  The case in point being a comment made to me that Buddhism is a very egocentric "religion," that a Buddhist is, in affect, their own god.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.

So, I just want to discuss a few points for those who might be interested.  Anyone in any of my Buddhist blog groups that want to interject, expand, or correct anything, feel free.  I felt that this knowledge was something that had value in being passed on.  You are free to reject or disagree with any of it.  Just remember that Truth exists beyond what you think.  Don’t take my words, See them.  See through them and find the Truth that exists beyond them.

The idea that the Buddhist wants to attain enlightenment for "themself" is completely opposite of everything the Noble Eight Fold Path stands for.  "I" do not want to be enlightened for "myself."  It’s not something for "me" to have so "I" can lord it over others.  I use the quotes to emphasize the point that the idea of self is not something Buddhists regard.  Attaining enlightenment includes the realization that there is, in fact, no self.  The concept of self is a construct of human craving, our desires that lead to suffering, to duhkha.  A Buddhist acts with the motivation to relieve suffering.  Not for ourself, but for everyone.  One does not become enlightened as a sort of final act, waving goodbye and good luck to everyone as we walk into the sunset.  Reaching Nirvana isn’t the closing of a book.  No, it’s a tool we get so that we may teach others how to do the same.  I cannot show someone how to ride a bike until I have learned to do the same.

Example.  Why do you chose not to kill people?  Because there are laws against it?  Because your parents told you it is bad?  Because you follow the Ten Commandments to the letter?  Why?  Is it because we as a society have developed a moral paradigm that says that behavior is unacceptable?  What if I said that’s a bad reason for a rule?  Islamic extremists disagree with that mentality.  They view martyrdom and the death of others as a successful path to the afterlife.  Are they wrong just because we disagree with them?  Why?  Why is that a less correct belief than what Christian Americans think?  The Buddhist belief sees beyond morality.  Morality is an illusion, something we make up as we go along.  Something that is different everywhere.  You say do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  For the Islamic extremist following, that carries new meaning, does it not?  Instead, I say that I will not kill people because it will bring suffering to their families and their friends.  I will not steal my neighbor’s car, or burn down a school not because laws tell me it is wrong, but because I understand my actions result in suffering for others.  I see Truth beyond my actions in that regard.  It is not wrong for extremists to kill others because it violates laws or is immoral, it is because it is a huge source of suffering around the world, that is how I know that cannot be right.  We do not exist so that we may be a source a duhkha - we are duhkha, because we want.

It is that which supercedes morality.  Granted we don’t live in a world where we can all go through life like that, naturally.  People are bound to the idea that we need rules to control society.  Yet, I believe that through the path I take and others take, we can show more people how to live their lives in a better way.  One where the rules aren’t needed.  Rules aren’t Truth.

In contrast, most people who consider themselves Christian are the opposite.  The individual will follow the rules presented to them and does good things so that they may go to heaven.  Their actions are not for the benefit of others, but for the benefit of themselves.  So that they may say look at these good things I have done.  They react out of a fear of hell.  Once you go to heaven, you are done.  Responsibilty to others ceases.  Duhkha ceases.  To a Buddhist though, we see duhkha as something that can cease through enlightment in life, and as long as we are able to teach that to others, we should, and should encourage others who are enlightened to do the same. 

A Christian may say "I must help save as many people as I can in this life."  How does one do that if they themselves have not yet really been saved.  They may think they have been, as this is what they’re told, but that was not something achieved through knowledge, but rather a singular act done unto them.  How do you "teach" that to another person?  It isn’t a scorecard, your value in heaven isn’t ranked based on how many people you can convert.  But everyone suffers.  Christians, Jews, Hindus, Pagans, Islams, everyone.  I don’t want to convert them because I think that makes me a better person, I simply want to help them escape duhkha, a goal I believe can be achieved regardless of religious persuasion.  Because we have that power.  Anyone can See.  We all have access to Truth.  And it’s not religious.  There is no Truth in religion, especially ones that are a constant source of duhkha.  And even a good Christian, of which I know several, fails to see that their religion still is a source of suffering.  If your religion is wringing compliancy through fear, and giving you something spectacular to want, then you create more craving.  You want that goal.  You want to see heaven, you want to be free of suffering.  But it is that very wanting that causes the suffering to begin with.  I am not saying that all that isn’t achievable either, because I do believe that there are some people who can See the Truth beyond their religion, even if they don’t realize it, or they just put it in context of religion.  Overall, they still "get it," so-to-speak.  But generally, real religion is a roadblock to that because even if it’s tiny, they still want for that end goal.  They still crave heaven, even if it’s a tiny bit hidden in the back of their head.  Built in, inherent duhkha.  Buddhism does have the same trap, chasing enlightnement.  But the trick is that enlightenment is not necessarily reached by pursuing it.

In the end, under my belief system, death does not give you an exemption ticket.  Life isn’t something to suffer through, and once it’s over, you magically are free of duhkha.  Because in that event, you haven’t learned a thing.  That is the basis of the rebirth system.  We gain knowledge and experience as we go.  Eventually we can See past duhkha.  It’s a slow process, but works well for everyone.  That is my belief anyway.

I welcome any conversation.