Self-sacrifice — is it same to Selfless ? ? ?

Time to time, a search-term “Self-sacrifice” came to here. = It seems, the Self

is the main issue of Buddhism, Self-sacrifice and Self-denial is always taking

quite an attention.    And in deed I myself talked about this in the past.

= I wrote that to reach Zen or Buddhism understanding, it is necessary to

have a self-denial or a self-sacrifice in a certain stage of

the pathway to see who the own Self is.

Though, the Aim of Buddhism is not “Wrestling with the SELF”= try to

eliminate and struggle.   But Being Buddhist is simply being selfless,

since the Self is not exists in the first place.

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—– You might be confused. This is the same situation like a “Disease”

= say XYZ syndrome. People may talk about what that syndrome is,

how to treat or eradicate it.   Though the teaching of

Lord Buddha didn’t mention the existence of such disease.  Such disease exists

only in one’s mind = NOT exist mean no point to know about alleged symptom,

let alone how to deny or eradicate it. = In other words, to think Self-denial or

Self-sacrifice as if it was the essence of Buddhism is, utterly a misunderstanding

= Here is a man trying to find and use a fire-extinguisher —– shame, there

wasn’t a fire, he only thought it was.

Don’t mix-up “to know, Fire is not exists” with extinguish a Fire.

Deny the Self is not close or same to the Selfless. Deny mean, the Self has been

 defined  and confirmed of its existence !  = Wrong direction to start.

[]

In our daily life, fundamentally there isn’t a conscious of Self,

hence things were done Selflessly.

So that, while reading this blog, have you been aware that your eyes are tracing 

the line, not mention that YOU ARE reading this.   YOU are in deed, doing all those

unconsciously. = Since you were alerted, now you became conscious of YOU.

Otherwise you didn’t need to become conscious of yourself to read this — in fact to

do anything or to live.   Ironically, human got over-sized brain and so-called Mind,

even worse got Selfish Ego and Greed kind.   When ever you were alerted and

became conscious about your “right” or “gain or loss” this kind of “Mind” often gave

us the interruption — “Hey, it’s a chance” or “Don’t loose” kind.   🙂

Lord Buddha found that this “Imaginary products” is the cause of all the troubles

even though, we can have a life without it.    And found that the idea of SELF, the

generator of all those Mind is the root cause, despite it is nothing but an illusion.

So, he taught to have “Clear eyes and the Mind” to distinguish the illusion or delusion

and the Truth. —– Yet still, we poor human tend to cling own Self and accompanying

sense of Self-loving Emotion, so that, when we do something for ourselves, we can not

handle it in the detached clear eyes and the mind.   The emotion which bound

the integration of Self is always there.

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In contrast, when we needed to do something for somebody else, not all of us are

very keen = We just do it as an extra task = often with quite detached mind, no

pleasure, even no Self conviction there.

(Let the hands do the work. The mind is somewhere else. 🙂 )

You can see that to do something for others, we do it detached, Selfless manner.

When you do, you do it dispassionate as it was seen objectively in quite rational

manner. = Because, it belong to the others, there is no attachment, still has to do

the job, job would be handled dispassionately as a given task. —– this situation

can be seen as the Self-sacrifice. And the dispassionate detached mind was

mixed-up with the selflessness.

= This was how and why the misinterpretation has occurred.

—– Self-denial or Self-sacrifice is not an idea of Buddhism.   Still, if there was a

situation to DO, real Buddhist would just DO without any question, since

there was no Self, therefore no wrangling Mind but the Karma put him to DO.

Though, by the eyes of others, it could be seen as if it was a self-sacrifice because

of it was not his own needs, and it was interpreted that he was forced to obey the

situation while denying his own will, himself.

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But, to see “Do something to others” only in the view of Self-denial or Self-sacrifice

is in deed the most Un-Buddhist like view.

It is nothing but an Egotistic, stingy, small “mind”.  —– Do something could be

a good exercise, do somebody’s work could be new experience — etc etc.

Don’t waste the time clinging with useless mind.      Just DO.

___/\___

[]

Good Lens or Cheap Lens

Some regular reader may remember, this lens has appeared here before.

But if you look inside, you may noticed that this one doesn’t have shiny

blue beer can.  = In deed, the front lens is the same though, the panel, and

the pinhole inside is different.  I did swap the panel to single pinhole hence,

it still has semi-fisheye wide angle view but the image doesn’t have a

hallasion created by the Double Density Pinhole.

The front lens came from an ubiquitous cheap Fish-eye Adapter, therefore,

giving fish-eye like distortion and wide-angle view, but being as low cost =

single lens structure showing the Chromatic Aberration.  = Part enlarged

bright-spot of Photo above, rainbow effect is quite visible.

Theory was the same = ” Place a strong concave lens before Pinhole would

creates [Wide angle Pinhole Image]” and this one has a concave lens from a

Canon Zoom Lens. = which is in deed the front element of the same lens I’ve

experimented with its rear element in the previous post.  

And I put the same Double-Density Pinhole panel behind of this lens.

This Canon’s Zoom was EFS type 18~55 mm hence, it was a kind of

medium wide-angle, so that even a front element concave lens was not too

strong = giving modest wide view.  (Though, still having quite a distortion.)

Yet still, the lens carrying the quality of the Canon = this front element

has an Achromatic design = no Chromatic aberration was visible. 

So that, thanks to this high quality Diopt-Pinhole Photo System, on a

full-frame 5D Mk-III camera, I can take high-quality Fuzzy image !

(I’m serious, believe me.   Ha ha ha  😀  😀  )

———————–

IN ADDITION:  This is the front element from a Sigma Zoom Lens.

Lens came from a friend of my friend who gave-up to repair the lens.

(The person managed to disassemble though, couldn’t put it back.)

It seems Sigma was used all sorts of clever tricks to produce the lens

“Reasonable”= not superb, still good enough, light and small, and

most importantly, not expensive for the people of this class.

The front lens seems to be plastic = easy to be scratched (Photo Left)

and the Photo Right shows funny reflection = this is an “Aspherical Lens “. 

You may have a fancy illusion toward the Aspherical Lens. = Yes, Aspherical

lens can give superb optical quality though, these days, it was used as a

magic bullet to save a cost !  (Instead to use many heavy and expensive

Grass, just one plastic Aspherical Lens could eliminates the aberration.)  

Because, Aspherical lens is no longer difficult to make nor expensive.

= Computer give the design and the laser curving can make a precise

die-cast, then the rest would be just a plastic mass-production work. 

As a rather ordinary  x3  Zoom, the strength of the front Concave lens is

similar to the Canon’s Zoom shown before.   The front element consists

two lenses hence it supposed to be an Achromatic design —– though

photo above shows the Chromatic Aberration. (See the rainbow color.)

(of cause, it might be corrected together with the rear element.)

And I put a single pinhole behind of this lens.

[]

New year’s First Sunrise — (well, almost)

New year’s First Sunrise —– well, not quite.  It’s the second one.  

Yesterday was a bit cloudy = so, this is in deed, the first opportunity

to take picture though ……… I didn’t even go out of my room,

let alone go-up a hill or a beach to take typical photo.

Worse still, I didn’t even rise a bamboo blind.  Still, with a longer 

lens with its shallow depth of field, bamboo-blind was disappeared.  

And at least, the photo on top is a genuine photo of SUNRISE !

—– but, first of all, why do we bother a day next of 31st of December ?    

or So-called New year’s day.  

It’s not even a Winter Solstice-day = just arbitrarily man-named day

= a products of human imagination.     Nothing absolute !

[]

We human invented so many rules and the patterns for us

to be bound or even enslaved by it.  

Like, if we use English, we have to follow its strict rules.  

Or some of the people created their own God and follow it.

—– so, to take a special significance of the NEW-YEAR’S DAY

—– IS just depends on our mind-set.  

Mind has created “Special Day” and the mind enforce its belief.

—– still, it is only in our imagination.  It might be fun and

able to have a kind of comfort to feel a part of the larger society

though —– we may better to think “Why do I follow this ?”

There could be the other kind of life “If not follow it”.

Enlightenment is to liberate the mind yet I wouldn’t simply say

brake the convention —– to chose the same convention, same

conclusion could be a feasible choice. 

Still, to see it in different eyes, everyday could be a fresh first day.

Have a peaceful and joyful year.

___/\___

[]

Cat’s Story / Cat with Moustache / Cat’s Mind

Animal’s body-color or their pattern of fur never change —– that was what I believed too,

until I saw one of my kitten had grown his Moustache.   😀

Kitten here (photo, left ) was in his 3rd days in this world, and as a very very young boy, he

didn’t show his Moustache yet. —– then less than a week, a faint sign of it started to appear.

I thought he licked something black and got his nose smeared but it wasn’t. (photo, right)

—– And a month later, he was a well grown young cat with well trimmed Moustache.

He was one of kittens born with other 5 (though, one was stillborn and 3 were adapted by

the friends) and only a kitten remained in the family, he was given a name “Den-suke”

(a famouse Japanese comedian with his trade-mark Moustache = Japanese equivalent

of Chary Chaplin) and became an apple in my eye.

Though, I might have given too much attention, he seemed to become mother’s boy.

Unlike his father, “Kaka” who was quite an out-venturing Macho type —– but Den-suke

prefer to stay with somebody and playing / disturbing each other if not sleeping or

cosmetic-licking.   🙂

[]

As I wrote in the other Cat’s Story(s) before, I don’t believe common stereo-typical cat’s

character. —– If a cat became to a rather solitary animal, it was the reflection of how that cat

was grown-up in its environment.   If a cat was left only as an animal in a house and having

only the social interaction, fed twice a day —– what else other than a solitary animal he (she)

could became.  In contrast, if a cat was grown-up with a lots of interaction from the Mother cats

and the owner who behave (in certain extents 😀 ) like another Dominant cat, naturally the cat

become like a “Social animal”.   Remember, even in the feline family, Lion lives in a group and

having quite complex “Social” activity with Rules and Psychological games etc. —– so, we can’t

tell what genetic trait a particular cat got.   At least I can say, all of my cats were more or less

behaved like a dog = respond to each name and come and play (or disturb me 🙂 ) by their will.

Nurture play a big role in the cat’s character and behavioural pattern !

[]

But to grown-up with those social environment while acquiring behavioural pattern like a

pecking-order imprinted into the brain, if a situation change, such as when new kittens were

born, and not only the Mother’s nursing care but also my attention has to go those helpless

small creatures.     That was the situation what the Father, who used to be the Star, could not

comprehend at all. —– It was the same situation, when a human male and female couple got 

new arrival of their baby.   (Husband who used to receive whole attention of the wife, was

suddenly abandoned alone in a middle of nowhere, without having any idea what to do. 🙂 )

[]

To the Tom-cat, those new born kittens were nothing but the other small animals, no different

from mice = therefore, he started to handle (or play) with kittens as if they were the mice.

And neither had a notion of Fatherhood or Recognition of “His baby” he couldn’t understand

why he was smacked when he tried to play with kittens. = To his eyes, I just became a tyrant

who blandish a terror. —– Cats can understand each phenomenon only on its apparence but

not able to connect it to a secondary implication behind, therefore he only thought that he

was smacked because the Boss got bad day, not because he did wrong.

[]

So, he took a strongest weapon he could use against the Tyrant —— spread his diarrhoea

all over my pillow ! ! !  —– ( I was so impressed with his ingenuity.   A brain which couldn’t

process secondary implication, still able to have such creativity.   I wondered

how he managed to make a connection, “Shit on the Pillow will best annoy the Boss !”

—– Amazing isn’t it ?  ! —— Ha ha ha.  😀 )

So I say, I’ve learned enough and greatly deepened my understanding toward the

simple, emotion-based mind,  while living with cats.   😀

—– And three months later Den-suke had to face the same situation as

next litter of kittens were born.   (So, he became to rotten / fallen Apple ! ) 

[]

Zen in Daily-Life (2)

In the previous post I explained how to gain the Selfless-mind-set with an example

of Tea making though, obviously Tea making is hardly a “Task in our daily life”.

It is more like a not too serious leisurely moment when we have a break.

So, how about a handling business matter such as to deal with Bills.

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Zen only deals with the matter on front.   And divides the whole task into small section.

And to deal with each section, one at a time.   (To climb the mountain, not overwhelmed by

its 8,000m hight, just concentrate to make each step perfect ! = On the end, reach to the top.)

Of cause, our brain can trace the implication of the matter even to 3^rd, 5^th effects and able

to speculate further though, the further we go it become a products of Imagination, or

pretty close to a Delusion.   (As a matter of fact, most of the speculation is nothing but a

delusion and the rest of only few, happen to meet the probability. —- Yet I wouldn’t totally

reject the facts, some people could foresee this probability in amazing accuracy.)

—– So, when a bill dropped on front of you, how you handle it ?     This bill is no delusion, and

a fact how much money you got, wouldn’t have so much grey area.   (Of cause, if you are

running a business, the money coming in, may have some uncertainty of timing, hence some

speculative juggling may be inevitable.   Still, a situation of unknowable wouldn’t give an

excuse to halt the whole business.   In a situation,“Can’t pay now” still, just keep a silence, or

send an excuse of delay, would make a big difference.)  

If ignored, it would come back twice harder.

[]

To live a life, “Don’t care” is one of THE attitude.   The way of Zen is the another attitude, and

I wouldn’t judge right or wrong but just show the resulting difference in efficiency to deal

with the Life.   Throw the bills to a bin and leave the payment until receiving a Red-bill, is

also a life-style.  Though, Zen chose the way, responding it at once. Because, anyhow a due

payment has to be cleared soon or later, not mention additional Late-payment charge etc.  

Unless the amount is in millions and keep it one more day in the deposit account will create

thousands more interest, instead, just clear and see no mess, is the choice of Zennist.

Even just to open an envelope, tear it regardless if it could also tear the document, —– but 

Zennist use scissors. (For THE task to open it, take the neatest way.  NOT the least effort.)  

And to pay attention, whether to keep the envelope together, if the document was

back-dated.  (—– I had an experience to argue in the Court, for the serving date of a

legal document with the stamped date on the envelope as an evidence. !)

Zen approach is to make everything into a clearly sorted file, and make a way to handle

it to a fixed routine, and to deal with them automatic = no hesitation, no stammering =

hence nothing bothersome would be left.   Even if having a headache of juggling, still see

the balance on a clearly filed order would make the Life easier, otherwise see it among

the piled-up bills, notices and other letters etc., will make the life into a confusion.

It’s far easier to deal with it, one by one in the first place.   The more delay only makes

the pile-up higher and such situation makes one’s mental state only depressed more.

[]

Dealing the things with a rule, and make it routine would change the matter from

“personal” to “one of an item among the lots”, hence it became an object, and

separated from the Emotion.  = Because of it is under the rule = independent from your

whim, and the rule and the routinised process handles the matter = not your mind = this

is the Selfless state.  —– (In fact this is a well known situation, “the customer complained,

don’t handle me as a number but as an individual person”— still, in an aspect of

efficiency, the difference is obvious.)

With a superficial impression, you may not like this though, the Zen originated “Selfless 

work Ethics” has contributed to High-productivity and the quality in the Japanese industry.

[]

This rule and a fixed routine creates consistency in the repeated task, and makes 

a person’s brain “Selfless state” —– This phenomenon is all common in the Tea-making or

the handling of clerical work, even the car-making — in fact all the human activities.

—– Behind this phenomenon, there is an crucial tendency of the brain. = Our brain has a

threshold of signal intake = if the same input has been repeated, the brain start to ignore

the signal and respond to it as a pattered routine without involving the Emotion.

It’s mean, when the brain handle a matter without involving Emotion,  the feeling of MINE,

or conscious of SELF  would not be generated.  

[]

All the sensory signal first goes to the Limbic System to have a reference from the memories

and anything related to one’s interest  (gain, loss, danger, comfort) was marked as significant

and the related hormone (if it was a sign of danger, Adrenalin) will be secluded to the

whole body to respond.  But if the signal has no such importance and repeatedly coming,

this process in the Limbic system would be bypassed. (Even though, the same bodily action is

still carried-out but “Emotionlessly”).  

Because of this Limbic System distinguishes and sorting the signal related to the SELF, if the

signal was bypassed,  one’s reaction would be carried-out without the connection to the

SELF, and the related hormone wouldn’t be secluded = No Emotion. — (Emotion doesn’t come

from a Thinking process, but mostly from a Mood created by the Hormone.) 

—– Therefore, when the brain was trained (through repeated practice) to bypass the process 

in the Limbic System, both  Subconscious of the SELF and the Emotion would be suppressed.

 —– And this phenomenon is the basis of

Lord Buddha’s teachings of the Selflessness (Anatman) and the origin of Buddhism.  In deed,

our brain, thoughts, mind is bothered by the interference from the conscious of SELF and the

Emotion, which creates Ego and the Greed and subsequently all sorts of the troubles in the LIFE,

Lord Buddha’s approach to utilize those Brain Function was a brilliant idea.   And without a

bias of Self, Ego, Greed and Detached Emotion, we can see the things much clearer

= We can see The Truth —– This IS, what Zen and Buddhism can achieve. 

___/\___

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Zen in Daily-Life

Don’t mistake this title as “Twisting leg everyday”.

Zen is to do something in a Selfless state of the mind. Twisting and sitting (supposedly while

meditating) is a mere practice to gain this Selfless (Mushin) state. —– Though, we are not

born for sitting but to do something to have active life, otherwise we have had extinct long

ago with starvation. So, even Eating in Selfless (ie; in Mushin, and in complete commitment

ie; Mindfulness) IS the Zen.   = This is the realization of what

Lord Buddha taught us = Anatman / Selflessness.

[]

To DO Selfless mean, DO IT without connecting the matter to the Emotion. = This is a state

of so-called Detachment. —– Everybody ever attempted to learn Zen, must heard the words

such as Mushin or Detachment, though, very few had been instructed how to learn it.

(Because in most of the case, their instructor had only an experience to have sat somewhere

in a temple, that all. Still, he is thinking that he had learned Zen.

So, teaching the same sitting  (and only sitting)  to others. 🙂

[]

The trouble of learning Zen by sitting is, even if the person (luckily) able to manage vacating

his mind while sitting, to keep this state of mind (whil doing other than sitting) is almost

impossible.   Because the mind had been accustomed to “Sitting and Do nothing” and make

empty Brain.   Therefore, TO DO anything else, the Brain and the Thinking will come back.

—– Naturally, to learn Zen in the ordinary situation, in a daily life is far better, as the person

can apply the same method and the state of the mind to DO another  “Thing”  as well.

[]

Such as to make a cup of tea. (In this purpose, DON’T take short-cut = make a tea from loose 

tea-leaf —– (this has the same concept as how “Tea making as a Zen practice” developed.)

The way I make a tea is :

Put a water to a kettle and shake it to wash inside and drain it. Put a water again to the

exactly the same level.   Switch on and wait it boils.   When the water started to boil,

switch-off (don’t wait automatic switch-off).   Pour the hot water (about half cup) into a

teapot where a tea-strainer and a tea-spoon is in.  (To heat-up them all together.)

Then take the spoon and tea-strainer out and make the spoon to dry.   Throw the hot water

from the teapot.   Then, put a spoon-full or two (according to the taste) loose-tea leaf into

the pot (heated spoon takes no condensation of the steam from the warmed tea-pot, hence

no tea lief would stick on it.)   Then pour the hot water to tea-pot.   Wait two minutes then

serve a tea. Put sugar or milk when I want.

(In fact, when I pour a tea to the cup, I add the (still) hot water from the kettle for next cup.

(I’m a chain tea drinker, anyhow.)   (Hot water was not as hot as before though, tea would be

brewed longer in the pot = it prevent the tea become too strong !

— Second cup doesn’t have fresh flavour though.)

[]

—– The process may seems too much details.   But they are all for a sake of good tea-making,

and to concentrate for this purpose IS the Mindfulness.

By doing the whole process always the same as THE Accustomed Form.

—– If you follow this, soon or later, you will gain the Formalized body movement and

gradually able to refine the details.   And soon or later you must be realized that you are

DOING all the process Just as a routine = without thinking and the process seemed to be

carried-out almost automatic.   It goes almost independent from YOU —– (As you know,

Do the same, again and again, you start to Do it without excitement, interest = No Emotion ! )

= Now the tea is ready for you to enjoy.   And it was made without your thinking (in Mushin)

and Detached from your Emotion, in other words, Without the  Conscious SELF

= You were in Selflessness.

Do anything in a part of daily-life in the same approach = DO only what you ARE doing

= Mindful Concentration to the only subject.   (nothing else in your mind)

And DO what that subject demand, in your best.  = This is the ZEN in the daily-life.

[]

= As you did the things, as good as you could, it’s mean “You may do better next time though,

what you have Done WAS the best on That moment = no regret.   (Regret can not change the

past, because the past has gone and the matter to DO better would be on the next time.)

= So, you can live the day without useless regret.   (You only can live, on its moment !)

[]

Key point is,

(1) Take it as if it is a Formalized procedure, hence you only Do it as if an imperative form.

(2) No short-cut and Do the best. (3) Establish your way and stick to it. (Stick to it though,

“Do the best”  has priority = the way to Do should evolve to even better on the process.)

(In fact, Mushin or Selflessness is mere By-product of this process = Forget them and just Do

what you got to DO = The matter is, you to DO it and only the result count.)

—– So, enjoy your Tea.      (While having the tea, think about, when you live in this manner

down to all the detail of the life, from the way to get-up from the bed – – – – – each frame of

picture to picture, you did your best = in total you had the best satisfying day, and next day too,

so does next year = in total, you have satisfying LIFE.  

As you been doing the best, others will know you are the most reliable consistent best,

because you are the Zennist.      What you wish more on your LIFE.

—– (without able to make satisfying tea, able to have satisfying day, you are far behind

of even start to talk about Zen,  let alone Enlightenment.    

But when you achieved to make a good tea, and had satisfying day, year, life = then,

you don’t need to have any Enlightenment on top of your life, since you already had one.

—– Life has full of funny paradox.  😀

[]

This was the reason why, when the Zen Masters found their Enlightenment,

all uttered “It’s a dog shit” = after all, all of us walking completely in Selfless Mushin

= nobody need to think how to move the legs.   We were born, able to live Selflessly

= So, it was explained as “We are born possessing the Dharma” which enabling us

to Live without relying on to the Self.    In fact, The Conscious of SELF is obstructing us 

to Live Selflessly.  —– When the Master discovered  this,  after spent years of practice,

he was annoyed to feel ( as the years had been wasted,)  hence    “What a dog shit”  😀

___/\___

[]

Lost in a Process ? — or Tampered ?

A man was walking on a trail in the middle of nowhere and met

Lord Buddha.   He asked, is this the right way to go ?

Lord Buddha answered,  Yes I came from there. You just GO.

Anyhow it was only a single trail, nothing else. —– Does it mean

Lord Buddha “Taught him the right way ?” or taught nothing new ?

—–

The man was born to go this way anyway.   So that there may

not be any needs to ask. —– still having the words, it gave him

a confidence and a peace of mind.

He just kept walk, thence reached to the destination.

(But, if the man didn’t actually walk all the way up, or stray-away,

he got nowhere and remained in the middle of nowhere,

still wandering in a barren desert.)

—– Everybody was born to have Dharma.   Therefore, unless

stray-away from the trail, but kept walking, everybody can

reach the destination —– where it was called Nirvana.

So, Lord Buddha told a man ” Just Go” — since it was a  way to

gain Selflessness and to reach Nirvana.

(Remember ?  Kisa Gotami’s story ?)

[]

Though, in reality very few did, since even fewer ever met

Lord Buddha, so that most of the people got the direction from

others who said walked it before.    And the another trouble was that

so many had took wrong turn, hence wrong trail had been

marked on the ground which was misleading the people to stray-away.

[]

Lord Buddha’s aim was to save the people from

“A delusion of Samsara” = The idea of Samsara  WAS  the very delusion”

though, later, the Teachings were mistaken to “Save from Samsara” on

the assumption of “endless cycle of rebirth = Samsara exists” because

the Hindu idea of Samsara was almost a common-sense THEN.

(During 400 years of oral tradition, gradually

the original contents of the Teachings has been changed to

“Buddhism IS based on a belief of Reincarnation”—– because of

this, the later attempt to revive the origin such as “Selflessness” 

became a contradiction = “If Selfless / Anatman was true, who is going

to be reincarnated ?  = and it was misinterpreted as a self-sacrifice.

—– There was absolutely no concept of “After life” in the

Lord Buddha’s teachings. = He didn’t even bother to give an answer to it.

(Able to answer mean, such idea was exists in the mind.  But because

there was absolutely no such notion, even no word exist in his mind.)

Or the Words to clarify “No after Life” was intentionally removed from

the oral recitation, because it contradicts a popular Hindu belief =

People must have thought “Such Enlightened wise-man wouldn’t have

had said such silly things against  a common knowledge of Reincarnation” ! 

[]

But if Lord Buddha’s teachings were the same to Hinduism, why people

specially come and seek a liberation in his teachings ?  = Because,

Lord Buddha denied the reincarnation, it’s mean no previous life which

would impose a Cast to next life exists.  Hence there was no Cast system in

the Original Buddhism.  

Cast is a part of Hindu Samsara idea ! —– Denial to such idea was the

Lord Buddha’s very distinctive and revolutionary new teachings.  

(The idea of “Re-born while carrying the Karma of previous life IS the CAST”.  

Denial of Perpetual Soul (Self) = No Self to be Re-born, hence NO CAST.)

—– You have to see the truth in the historical fact.

Think yourself.  Don’t believe the scripture blindly. —– Remember,

Lord Buddha reached to his Enlightenment without reading any scripture !

___/\___

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What Buddha found

(According to the Scripture which Yoshizen found in the Dragon’s den in South London.

—– the Authenticity is more or less the same to any other Buddhist  Scripture )  ;-D

After 6 years of ascetic hard practice which was based on the Vedic concept, “With a

concentration of one’s mind = Atman can reach to the level of super natural power”

which is, of cause, on the belief of that the Atman exists. —– but to realize, it was not

suit for him, and left the ascetic practice, and having nursing his weakened body,

Gautama Buddha suddenly noticed that, while eating a milk-porridge offered by a

village girl Sujata, his mind was completely empty. = no mind or conscious was there.

It must had shocked him and made him realized that we’ve been doing a lots of things

without having any thought or conscious. We all are walking without thinking how to walk.

Facing this undeniable fact, he realized that the belief of Atman was utterly false.

What makes us to live, and walk was not the Atman but invisible Dharma.

Atman is not exists, and if we remove the mind or thinking and make it empty, the Dharma

which has been masked by the mind will prevail.

—– So, he tested this, sitting under the Pipal tree.   And after 49 days when he run-out of all

the thoughts, the mind became empty, hence, without any pre-conception and with the

clearest eyes, he saw the world as it is which is the sign of the Dharma.

It was the moment of his Enlightenment.

[]

Then he gave a thought, why the same man who had been believing the existence of Atman

now seeing it is not exists.   If really Atman exists, same Gautama must see the same Atman

still here, but the fact showed, it is not.    It changes moment to moment.

When things changes, others change as well with direct, indirect connection and this makes

the Dharma dynamic.   Hence, nothing stays permanent.

But it is the paradox, to be the Dharma it should be permanent. —– what only persistent in

the Dharma is, its nature of change, not the appearance.   Appearance is just a transitional

illusion on our eyes.   And our eyes were also attached to this transitional existence, us,

which we can not even define it is existing or not, because the one who try to define it,

is not a consistent existence either.

So the situation, which can only be describable is, the changing nature of the Dharma which

got a mechanism of Karma, which drives everything change, moment to moment,

that nature IS the Truth.

[]

It’s means, “No rigid existence of Atman, let alone its perpetuity, hence No Self, the Self what

we imagined”, everything is Void.  And the Dharma and its mechanism of Karma are all

invisible and unknowable because they may also be Void.

—– Yet still, we are here, there is no choice but has to accept this Truth.

When you can not beat, better join them, be flexible.   This is the Enlightenment.

It is not a kind of jump and dance discovery, but neither need to be depressed, because, this

is what we are and our situation is.   It’s mean, we neither need to worry because, our worry

itself may be yet another illusion, and anyhow we are here only in this moment in only one life.

And we are here because the Karma caused us to be here, there must be a reason which

we can not know.    We have to accept and respect the Dharma.

[]

And an essential wisdom to deal with this situation, —– to deal with almost invisible Dharma

and the Karma, we have to see them as it is, with transparent perception, never with

coloured glass, in other words, in Selfless clear eyes.   In Selflessness, in definition, there is no

Ego or Greed either. Since, the owner of Ego and Greed is not exist.

Therefore we have no possibility to loose anything = We will be in total freedom = We can have

totally liberated life, free from any delusion.

So, Lord Buddha started to teach the way to obtain this Selflessness.

[]

(Note : It is crucial to see the formation of Buddhism in an aspect of historical situation.  

It was a time when the Vedic belief was gradually taken-over by the new Hinduism.  

A religion of mostly just worship and make rituals toward the Vedic Deities (hence, ordinary

people were just by-standers) to a religion which is taking a personal account in each Karma

and perpetual cycles of Reincarnation (Samsara) = Hinduism, which horrified the people with

a fear to be trapped in a cycle and even born again as a beast.  

Lord Buddha urgently needed to to give an answer to those people and liberate them from

such deluded idea by teaching them that the reincarnating soul = Atman itself is not exists

hence the one’s death will be the total end which IS the Nirvana.

No-Self / Selflessness / Anatta / Anatman was the centre of his teachings.  That was why when

Lord Buddha was asked a question (again) “What happens after a death ?” or  “After a death

where the soul goes ?” He was so annoyed and didn’t give an answer.  —— On the scripture,

his personal attendance Ananda asked him “Why didn’t give an answer” “Because, it would

confuse them” = If this scripture was true, even a closest disciple haven’t understood the

teachings, or most likely  the writer of the scripture didn’t know what the Buddhism was.

(on that time the original teachings had already lost !) 

[]

—– It’s sound strange still, it is quite common tendency of the Karma, people who afraid to

get injured get injury.   (May be because, the person who had no fear was more agile and

able to see and avoid a danger = the same tendency appeared everywhere in the life.)

There are endless list of the paradox in the Life. = They are definitely making the life FUN.

And this is the secret to live happier peaceful Life.

So, this is the Enlightenment.

___/\___

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Selfless = Anatman = Sunyata = Voidness

As I wrote in the previous post “No Teaching ??? ”, what

Lord Buddha was teaching was no other than the state of the brain “Selflessness”

such as when a person was completely absorbed into an action or practice.

(Though his approach to put emphasis on meditation may not be the best way.

==> So that many different methods was invented later).

But unfortunately, this neurological phenomenon and his Teachings has not been

correctly understood and kept by his followers.    The reason was, as I wrote, it was

not clearly explained even to the immediate disciples and not all the disciples

necessary understood, let alone actually reached to a state of Selflessness. 

[]

This history has been reflected to some tradition, such as that the Theravada sect

who is keeping rather ancient form of Buddhism define the “Voidness” = Sunnata is

pertaining to the Selflessness / Non-Self = Annatta, and this Annatta is in fact, no other

than the Sanskrit, Anatman.

Lord Buddha’s teachings had the fundamental stance against the Vadic Atman.

Therefore, it was NO-Atoman = Anatman. —– It showed, in the original teachings, there

was no separate notion of Voidness, because the feeling of Voidness = Detached view to

the world was a part of the Selflessness or Selflessness itself.

(The one who really possess the Selfless-eyes knows this.)

Because, when the Emotion was disconnected, and feel everything were detached, the

stimuli to any 5 senses doesn’t have significance —– it exists though makes no difference

as if it was not existed.   Hence, didn’t need to specially talk about so-called Voidness.

(People who naturally acquired to speak English, as born in England, doesn’t excite or

talk about it.  But foreigner who newly became bilingual tend to show-off that he can

speak English. = A person acquired Selflessness through long practice, doesn’t feel of

the Voidness anything special, since they gradually came together and feel nothing

that they are the separate phenomenon —– in fact the person doesn’t even noticed

such a phenomenon, either Selflessness or Voidness ever existed in the mind.) 

[]

The history of Buddhism was the masquerade of sham Guru who pretended to know the

Lord Buddha’s teachings = Selflessness. —– As, there was a hear-say, the attribution of

the Enlightenment (Selflessness) is such as “Middle way” or a “Detached view = Perception

of Void” —– Those Guru pretended that they know the subject, and deployed the argument

while writing yet another script about “Middle-way” or “Voidness” simply they saw the

opportunities to become famous and rich.     But in fact, some of them were Tantra, or

mixture of Hindu and as they were using their more familiar knowledge to describe

Selflessness and Buddhism, = Buddhism deviated so much.   In fact some of them became

beyond the recognition from the original teachings and end-up almost like the Hinduism.

[]

Fundamentally, there couldn’t be any argument or needs to discuss the matter of

Middle way or Voidness, even the Panya Paramita as a separate phenomenon, since

they are naturally attributed to the same state of Mushin or Selflessness

= Psychological Phenomenon is Just one.

(A man in ill for caught cold shows the symptoms such as “High temperature”

“Headache” “Coughing” etc. so that to deal with “High temperature” alone and

dip him into a cold water wouldn’t help him. :-D)

People who doesn’t know the whole, in its totality, picking-up a superficial distinctive

feature, and talking in loud voice, pretending that he is The expert. Is exactly like a Theory

of Economics = use one monetary index, and try to describe whole economical trend.

Or mimicking the fashion of a star, and buy the same handbag, use the same buzz-word.

All those are the sign of “This person doesn’t know what he is talking about”.

Still, the trouble was that to the eyes and the ears of people standing by, who knows

even less, think those sham Guru looks, sound, great. —– The sensational new fashion

trend with buzzword of Voidness and the thousand of new-Buddha etc.etc. those new

concepts in Mahayana scriptures were made-up in this way.   (But don’t get me wrong

I’m not against everything of Mahayana, as it opened the more flexibility and the

way of free thinking which is the essential to the Zen mind.)  

[]

The worst was Nagarjuna who boasted that he brought back the scriptures from the

Dragon’s cave in the sea bottom. = What a shameless braggart. —– If you see it in

cool head, you may realize that he was a kind of sham doctor, a salesman selling dubious

beauty portion.   And selling new buzzword of Voidness, exploiting the ignorance of the

Buddhists who doesn’t know what was the

Lord Buddha’s original teachings.    (What Nagarjuna said, such as in the Panya Paramita

Sutra was not necessary wrong, and the funny paradoxical phrase was the attempt to

express the complexity of the human mind (co-existent Conscious and Unconscious mind)

though, to put such emphasis to Voidness alone was an indication of that he didn’t have an

own experience of the Selflessness (cut-off  Emotional Region / Hypothalamus in the Brain,

hence the things and the matters were seen remote from Self-interest) = he didn’t know

that the Selflessness and the voidness was not separate phenomenon.

[]

To describe what’s going on inside of our body is not easy,

not mention inside of the mind, even to

Lord Buddha, especially, subconscious is invisible. —– Hence he was very reluctant

on the beginning (so, the scriptures says). That was why

Lord Buddha invented the way to teach direct, without resorting the verbal explanation.

—- though, some were worked, but not everything. So that, many different understanding,

interpretations were bore out, not mention convenient use of the term or notion even the

Divine figures from other religion.

When the person was in Selflessness, there is no need to have a Divine figure to worship.

Selfless hence with Dharma IS its state.  Dharma is there together with

its mechanism of Karma. = It is not for worship but to live with.

[]

—– Of cause, the situation is more or less the same to me, I never seen how a

visual signal running from my eyes to the brain, = only guessing it must be like a

PET Scanner’s screen showed us.    Still, as we know now, how the brain works on the

process of thinking, feeling etc. and we are able to shed the light

to the matter “What is the Selflessness” of which

Lord Buddha pointed out as the way to deal with Life’s problematic situation.

Now is the time to elucidate and Re-construct the teachings of

Lord Buddha to its original form. —– using today’s term = talking in a style and the

words, matched to the occasion and to the audience was the tradition started by

Lord Buddha.    😉

___/\___

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No Word, No Teaching ???

There is a well known quotation in Buddhism   “In his 45 years of teaching,

Lord Buddha didn’t give even a single word”. —– Even as a metaphor,

this words could explain the most crucial truth in the teachings of

Lord Buddha.

(After 4 years I blogged here = this practice has been my equivalent of facing a rock wall

to sort out the conflicting notions and the words in the scripture, and on the end, I came

to the conclusion.)

[]

A trouble of Buddhism is that there is no authentic written “one teaching”.    

Even the earliest scripture, Agama Sutra was created 200 or more years later, thence

virtually all the 3,000 Buddhism scriptures were compiled on hear-say and guess-work.

(still the author may say “My understanding of the True Buddhism”)  

And on top of this,  it was a well known fact that

Lord Buddha,s words seemed to be different ocasion to ocasion and it was depend on

to whom he was speaking. —– So that, what I’ve been doing was, picking-up the pieces

among the mountain of disassembled parts and to re-configure the most likely the

original picture. (You may say, I also doing a guess-work) 😀

[]

Considering this Quotation “No teaching” together with other stories such as Kisa Gotami’s

mustard seeds’ story and a story of Churi Pantac (Shuri Bantoku) sweeping the garden, and

on top of those, “Going out on rainy night” (Test of Selflessness) story.

There was no explanation of why or what could be achieved by doing so, was given by

Lord Buddha. = It must be the teaching of “Think it yourself” though, is anywhere the

explanation why need to think yourself, was ever explained ?    By thinking it, (but thinking

in the subconscious level ! ) the one can reach own understanding which would lead to the

own Enlightenment, as the Enlightenment couldn’t be given or taught by any other person,

the one has to find it. (external communication hardly touch one’s subconscious.)

(It is completely different from “Believing the Gospel”= Belief is to firmly memorise the

Pattern, but not necessary know what to do with it, since implanted memory is a

foreign substance) = Because the very process of finding out, is a part of the Enlightenment

(This process is to Re-program the Brain and cut-off Emotional Region to handle a situation

= hence, without an involvement of the Self.)    Thus, to teach it in the words would spoil the

purpose of ths teaching itself. = Teaching in Words would only create a memory, but Buddhism

need to change the personality from the subconscious. —– While fully aware of this paradox,

Lord Buddha wouldn’t have explained the effect of the practice or what is the aim of it,

instead, only gave an instruction what to do.   He didn’t give-away the trick and the goal.  

In this extent, he didn’t teach but just gave a Task.   And while doing it, the person can reach

and gain a state of the “Mushin” and  “Selflessness”. —– Observing the person’s progress,

Lord Buddha must have given further instruction what to do next,

and where is the point to watch, but not what to think or why / the theory.

( Practice  can be done purely subconsciously  (in Mushin)  but the Word  ( = Categorized 

notion)  couldn’t be operated away from the highly conscious brain activities.)

[]

A crucial point in Buddhism IS there is no promise of salvation BUT “Save yourself by

reaching the Enlightenment by yourself” —– otherwise, Life is suffering, getting ill,

get old and die. = very blunt message. = (Very Un-Religion like message in deed, since

Buddhism is a teaching of Truth, not a false hope or pinky illusions.)   And all the

8 right path etc are what you do.   Not what to believe. In fact, all those “Do what” are

obviously in the common sense.   Nobody would suggests otherwise.   So, there are no

fancy ritual but simple practice = matter is not what or why, but Do.

Lord Buddha might actually told those words to his followers, but no words of why to

Do it = because, no matter of what, but actually Do it unconditionally then

what would happen = Was the teaching.

[]

So that when you do, just DO without thinking,

without questioning, it’s mean in Mushin, was what

Lord Buddha taught, NOT a complicated reasoning or mythical story which only exists in

abstract notion = Delusion.    “What we can DO (include the thinking) without our lexical

conscious = in another word “DO it subconsciously” is the Core of the teaching.

Lord Buddha must have taught how the Karma (cause and result) works in each moment,

such as behind our eyes how the nature is interacting, and all sorts of the physical

phenomena, almost like a science teacher, and taught this is what the Dharma is.

But strictly remained within the rationality and on the facts.

(even though it was in the 2,500 years old standard).

[]

Since we can do, we can live, without conscious (in deed as we are walking without

thinking how to walk or we are thinking without us noticing it.)

“In the truth, SELF is not a real existence but only an imaginary existence = The Self or

Atman in Vedic teachings is a false”.   Therefore the teaching couldn’t be based on the

lexical thinking which is a product of the conscious Self. —– The paradox was that the

teaching was “to become and to live Selfless”. = How to teach and learn the Selflessness

without relying on the product of the Self / Word and the notion. —– Only a way to

learn “To do without thinking” is just watch the way to DO, then Do the same.

[]

To teach or to tell in the words, “Do it without thinking” is the same as to tell

“Tell me that you are sitting in silence” 😀 —– So that,

Lord Buddha just asked the followers to follow him and do the same.

The followers studied by just watching and learned by just Doing.

By just keep Doing, the followers get used with it, and reached the mind-set to Do

and Live without conscious of the Self.   (Without conscious mean, it is not only in

Mushin but be with the Karma of its Moment, in another word Ichijo / Oneness with

the subject or ultimately with the Dharma.)

[]

So that, the teachings were not in the words, hence, it sound as if nothing was taught.

But that was what Buddhism was in the original form. —– And this was the very reason

why the tradition of “Teaching by Heart to Heart, without relying on the words”

(教外別伝，不立文字，依心伝心)  has been kept in the Zen teaching.

(= Just DO the work. Soon or later you will learn to do it automatic/Selfless.)

Yes, Lord Buddha has taught.  In a way NOT taught anything at all.

So, the quotation was correct.

___/\___

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