Mastering the Core Teachings of Buddha. An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book - страница 33

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The Seven Factors of Enlightenment

There are actually whole spiritual traditions that involve just tuning into this basic truth. There can be great value in learning to see the space around things, rather than just being caught up in the things themselves. A useful phrase from one of these traditions is “cultivating space-like meditative equipoise.” The more we habituate this way of being, the more we connect with the truth of our minds.

There are also some really excellent teachings, especially from Zen and Daoism (also spelled Taoism), that relate to this, such as the teachings about no defilements, no enlightenment (or practice is enlightenment), nothing to perfect, no where to go, etc., and checking in with some of these teachings can be very helpful. This is the important counterbalance to spiritual striving and gung-ho practice that can get very future-oriented if done incorrectly. In the end, even if you have all kinds of insights, if you don't have equanimity, you will be beating your head against a wall, and it actually might feel like that or worse.

Once again we are back to knowing this moment just as it is. This

“just as it is” quality is related to mindfulness and also to equanimity. In the end, we have to just accept the truth of our lives, of our minds, of our neuroses, of our defilements, of impermanence, of suffering, and of egolessness. We have to accept this, and this is what they are talking about when they say “just open to it,” “just be with it,” “just let it be,”

“just let it go,” and all of that.

From a pure insight practice point of view, you can’t ever

fundamentally “let go” of anything, so I sometimes wish the popularity of this misleading and indifference-producing admonition would decline, or at least be properly explained. However, if you simply investigate the truth of the Three Characteristics of the sensations that seemed to be a solid thing, you will come to the wondrous realization that reality is continually “letting go” of itself! Thus, “let it go” at its best actually means, “don’t give a bunch of transient sensations an excessive sense of solidity.” It does not mean, “stop feeling or caring,” nor does it mean, “pretend that the noise in your mind is not there.”

If people start with “just open to it” and yet don't develop strong mindfulness, look into the Three Characteristics and gain deep insights, then their practice may be less like meditation and a lot more like psychotherapy, day dreaming, or even self-absorbed, spiritually-48

The Seven Factors of Enlightenment

rationalized, neurotic indulgence in mind noise. It was noticing the high prevalence of this activity and the pervasive and absurd notion that there was no point in trying to get enlightened that largely demolished my vision of being a happy meditation teacher in some mainstream meditation center somewhere.

Psychotherapy, on the other hand, can be a fine undertaking, but it is a completely different endeavor from meditation and falls squarely in the domain of the first training. I do not, however, advocate wallowing in self-absorbed mind noise, and anyone who has been to a small group meeting on a meditation retreat knows what I am talking about. This is what happens when people don’t ground the mind in the object of meditation.

On the other hand, even if you gain all kinds of strong

concentration, look deeply into impermanence, suffering and no-self, but can't just open to these things, can't just let them be, can't accept the sometimes absurd and frightening truths of your experience, then you will likely be stuck in hell until you can, particularly in the higher stages of insight practices.

Reflect on these previous three paragraphs now and often, as many, many errors on the spiritual path come from not understanding the points made therein. Too often there is an imbalance between the first three (mindfulness, investigation, and energy), and the last three (tranquility, concentration and equanimity). The vast majority of aspiring insight meditators are, to be honest, way, way, way too slack about the first three. Just so, some gung-ho meditators get into trouble when they don't cultivate enough acceptance, balance and peace, related to the second three. When people focus only on the middle factor, rapture, they become vapid bliss-junkies. In short, all seven factors are very important.