Planes

It is becoming clear. The way we interpret the different planes of past, present and future are based in ego and it is our ego that picks the channel, frequency or plane, if you will. Beyond the ego there is no judgement, let alone time, as there is just now and now is beyond judgement and critical thought. 

The ego also tricks us into such things as depressed or negative thinking - I shouldn’t have done that, it was a stupid thing to say, I shouldn’t have shown my anger, and so on and so on forever more - or not? Depression is a plane tuned into by the ego - it allows us to be distracted and offers a false sense of comfort and a reality that isn’t quite there. 

This channel allows us to feel like shit, because the ego knows if it keeps us on this plane then it survives and our true nature is suppressed. We buy into the game of non-living - the game of thoughts and illusions. On the other channels we have everything is fine, i’m having a swell time and other such delusions - delusions clearly work in many ways. The anger channel where we kid ourselves that it’s ok to loose our shit and get mad at our loved ones. So many frequencies for us to tune into - so fucking many. 

On the other end anything illuminated by what following the breath reveals, is of our ultimate true nature which is nothingness. And being in nothing you are ultimately everything. In the state of nothing we are in the true state where the only actions are that of compassion, warmth and so forth. It is in such things that are beyond concept, we find the beauty of emptiness. There is no true manual on such matters because they are of the deepest heart wisdom which is accessible for all beings if we just turn off the channels. 

Saigyō 5 Tanka translations

on this peak
between the lull of storms
my only companions
are the loneliness of retreat
and the sound of water
______

after my death
through the pines
through infinity
no one will mourn these ruins
no one will follow my footsteps
________

through my door
comes no one -
this lonely
mountain village
where i live in desolation  
________

empty cicada husk
this body sighs
in vain -
my love bound
in hopelessness
_______

all alone
in this rocky ravine
far from the town
- where no one can see me
I surrender to grief

(original translations)

Let go!

Heraclitus is possibly most remembered as stating that one cannot step into the same river twice. This is a very famous over used and somewhat misunderstood quote. One way to interpret what the pre-socratic philosopher was stating is that one cannot step into the same reality twice. Reality as a river then. We the pebbles and stones bobbing and ebbing, weaving and crashing along. Does a pebble know its nature? Can we? 

Generally we are pebbles that are generally unawares about what we know and cling to things rather than letting go into things as they are. Sometimes though we get a glimpse into reality as it is. There is a great existential weight to this realisation of ourselves coursing along in this stream. Dylan notes and bemoans in Like a Rolling Stone as the lead character in the song is bitterly thrown out of the hip life of rolling drown the river unawares trapped into the phenomenal clinging - 

You used to laugh about

Everybody that was hangin' out

Now you don't talk so loud

Now you don't seem so proud

About having to be scrounging for your next meal.

How does it feel?

How does it feel

To be without a home

Like a complete unknown

Like a rolling stone ?

How does it feel? That metallic hollow lonely dredged as ghosts drag the chains of time through your sternum. How does it feel? Loss and the ills of reality. What remains? What can remain? 

If we look finally towards medieval Japan we can perhaps find our answer from Basho: summer grass - the ruins of a soldier’s dream

Let go! The grass will grow. The pebbles will roll. Float down stream. Dislodged and help the other pebbles along the way. The river will remain. The grass will grow. You can’t step into the same reality twice. You can’t live the same situation twice. Let go. Why hold on?

The Sangha hymnal

we take our seats
we follow our breath
everyone of us single and together
nothing and everything
in this world we resound
from and of this world we route
the life of this and that - judgement clinging ego
we follow the path
the mountain path
we humbly accept the invitation and guidance
offering prostrations to our guides
like lilly roots
through the mud we are nourished
invisible boundless
all nations all hearts indivisible
we follow the bell of our sangha

The simple things

In a certain regard we are all moral and ethical philosophers. What i mean by this statement is we work around our world making thinking and non thinking decisions. We don’t kill for reasons we have learned and developed. We show compassion for reasons we have learned and developed.
In this framework we are honest to societal degrees that we find suit our lives. For instance we’ve all done the job interview. For most people, myself included, I had to adapt my honesty to a level where I can get the job but don’t go too far and blatantly lie. Why do you want the job? I don’t answer honestly, it’s not possible because I need to pay my rent, I need food. The correct answer would be, something like, your company is amazing and i’d love to use and develop my skills within this institution. The bs just starts to roll and roll.
So does this make my actions not right? Am i being deceitful? Well, yes. But lets look at the grand scheme of being dishonest. All actions contain other actions. Like an acorn contains the oak tree. It’s already there. With my dishonesty I don’t want to plant something that could be harmful. I don’t want to plant my acorn too close to my neighbors or even my own house because it would ultimately destroy it, right. You see where i’m going w/ this?
If i was to be honest it would cripple my life and a lot of people around me too. Hey you, you over there? You’re fat and stupid looking. How does this work? Are morals and ethics are clearly malleable. I don’t steal. I don’t cheat on my partner. Why? I don’t want to plant the acorn too close to the house, right?
So I conclude that observing my life and its unfolding through honesty being honest or dishonest is neither relevant or applicable and in both instances I’ve created a dichotomy that is fictitious or non existent -this is seen by the fact that one can never actually be either honest or dishonest, or more accurately our lives won’t work if we choose either extreme. Everything seems to be in the intent. So where do we go? It’s obvious and simple - we follow the middle path or a meeting in the middle, if you like. The integrity of this middle path is heightened when we just sit. So we sit, cultivate and act. No good or bad. Just the intuitive thing.

Come meditate with me tonight through our community page at 8pm (UK time)

3 haiku

twilight -
the tops of tenements
tumble into memory

_____________

father’s old records -
our silence
between songs

_______________

summer storm -
the river swells
beyond the graffiti

______________

Love

As a child i remember going to a joke shop. They obviously had many many fantastic and wonderful things for sale but one thing I see to vividly remember being sold was a love potion. On the packaging it stated whoever ingested the potion the first thing they see they would fall in love with - the package illustrated  this by a man seeing a plant and falling in love with- love hearts emanating from his head and all. 

In many movies and other forms of dramatic entertainment love and it’s manifestation into  relationships with others is often used as a defining point of the story and ultimately the human condition. The plot arcs and pivots around the characters creating a fictional world bound on interaction. It is in this we see how we give ourselves to our world of friends, family and loved ones. There is no action we commit that is isolate of the influence from these circles. We are inseparable from these circles in a very real and beautiful way. 

From this it seems like love is something we can tap into rather than falling into. It is sharing this universal feeling that is our common sense of being in love and having it be requited. A timeless secure feeling. And just like love meditation is something that we open up to. An opening up to the world. We drop out insecurities, likes dislikes and be in that moment.

We notice the annoying traits of our friends, families and loved ones but don’t let ourselves be carried away by them and their shit. We notice the sounds outside that distract us while we sit but we don’t spit and hiss with anger and loose our minds at the taxi driver honking his horn outside. No. We put our work in. We get stuck in. We notice. It’s all work and it’s all surrender.