My name is Brad and I subscribe to Deepak Chopra’s Twitter feed.
Hi Brad!
I don’t even really “get” Twitter. I’m not sure just what you’re supposed to do with it. The best stuff I’ve seen there has been funny one-liners like Shit My Dad Says or my friend Precious Veal. She’s a hoot!
A lot of “spiritual” type guys are on Twitter these days throwing out little sound bytes of spirituality. But I doubt there’s anything truly worthwhile in the realm of spiritual practice that can be reduced to 140 characters.
Of course, having said that I also have to mention that there is a tradition in Zen of so-called “turning words.” These are short phrases that, when heard by just the right person at just the right time, have a profound effect. One such phrase that often gets quoted is, “From birth to death it’s just like this.” A lot of the koans end with “turning words.” For me, hearing the phrase “form is emptiness, emptiness is form” really blew my head right off when I was about 18 years old.
But I seriously doubt that a Twitter feed is the best way to disseminate “turning words.” It’s not like those ancient Zen guys subscribed to a service that would sling random “turning words” at them from multiple sources of varying quality at a rate of four to six an hour popping up on their cell phones among fart jokes from drive time DJs and news about Paris Hilton’s latest Brazilian wax job. It was a different sort of thing altogether.
I’ve responded to a couple of Deepak’s tweets already. But one came up last night that I think really needs to be addressed in detail.
Right at the outset I want to emphasize that this is not about the man Mr. Deepak Chopra himself. It’s about what he tweeted. It’s not even about everything he tweets. It’s about this one specific tweet. I don’t know enough about Mr. Chopra to criticize him as a human being or even as a brand. I know he’s got a comic book series and a bunch of TV shows and even a video game. As dubious as the spiritual applications of these things seem to me, I’m not even all that fussed about them. If someone wanted to make a graphic novel or a video game out of Hardcore Zen, I’d probably do it. So this isn’t about that.
It’s about what Mr. Chopra says in his tweet. And what he says is this:
When you reach pure awareness you will have no problems, therefore there will be no need for solutions.
Let’s analyze that for a minute.
When (in the future, not now) you (who exist now and will continue to exist in the future) reach (whatever you imagine to be) pure awareness you (who exist now and will continue to exist in the future) will have (in the future) no problems (for your self), therefore there will be (in the future, not now) no need for (you to have) solutions (and won’t that be wonderful, over there, past that hill, just out of sight, let me sell you a way to get there).
If it were only Deepak Chopra who believed this, it wouldn’t really matter much. But this is how pretty much everyone approaches meditation practice and it’s why meditation practice seems to fail those people. It is certainly how I myself thought of practice for a very long time. I wanted something for myself. I might have even thought of what I wanted to get in terms of “pure awareness.” I read enough shitty books that used shitty phrases like that.
There is no pure awareness for you.
That might sound harsh. But really it’s not. What you are can never enter that place. Because you are the subject that sees things in terms of objects. Joshu Sasaki put it like this in his book Buddha is the Center of Gravity; “The God that is standing in front of you as an object says, ‘I am your God.’ But he is not. Even if that God has great power, he is not the real God.”
Pure awareness, whatever that is, or God (my preferred term), cannot be the object of you, cannot be the possession of you, it isn’t in your future, it isn’t something you can ever possibly reach. It will not solve all of your problems. It couldn’t even if it wanted to. It’s a fantastic dream that can never come true.
This doesn’t mean everything is bleak and horrible and hopeless. It just means that approaching it in terms of you and the things you want to get cannot possibly work. It can’t work precisely because thinking of things in terms of you and what you want to get is exactly the thing that blocks it.
The attitude expressed in Mr. Chopra’s tweet sits right at the very epicenter of where things have gone wrong for mankind. It is the source of all of our troubles. The solution to what’s wrong in the world is not some distant dream of pure awareness. It’s the understanding that what exists right now is pure awareness, is God, whether you know it or not. We, who seek to know it and possess it, are the very thing that makes it so hard to understand that.
A couple of blogs ago Broken Yogi made a comment that, “Brad is mixing categories. I can’t pole vault 18 feet like a top Olympic athlete, but I doubt that athlete would call me physically ill because I can’t do that… Likewise, I’m not enlightened, but I’m not spiritually lame either.”
In response I said something like, “Enlightenment (I hate that word) isn’t like pole vaulting 18 feet. It’s more like walking to the bathroom, if we were to continue that analogy. Most people, instead of walking to the bathroom, which (let’s say) just happens to be 18 feet away instead try to pole vault to the bathroom. And they can’t do it because the ceiling is too low. Yet they try anyway and keep injuring themselves. The pole keeps breaking, they keep hitting their heads, they keep beating themselves up over not being able to do it, and they still have to pee. The only thing an enlightened person (I hate that term) does differently is that she walks straight to the bathroom, does her business and then goes back to bed.”
Enlightenment or pure awareness or God or whatever isn’t some complicated thing we have to chase after far, far away. It’s the chasing itself that gets in our way. We wear ourselves out running in circles to try to arrive at the place we already are.
Harry, you are asking basic Buddhist questions, I suggest that you read some of my articles first and comment or ask then. I think what you ask about is what I address in almost all my articles. My last article I think answers all your questions
http://myogen.blogspot.com/2012/05/way-i-write.html
I also recommend A Chat About a Few Things where I explain my relationship with my teacher and what I have learned from him.
Roman,
I am not looking for a teacher, thanks. And, futhermore, your assertion that you know what the Buddhist truth is when you see it rings hollow when you can't explain it to me.
The internet is infested with Buddhist teachers pointing at themselves.
Regards,
Harry,
Roman, your sweater is really nice too 😉
But I bet Harry has a nicer one! White?
Harry, if you don't trust me, don't ask me questions, you are wasting both your and my time.
Hi Roman,
It's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of simple facts (even so, there are a lot of teachers who could tell us what the Buddhist truth is that we shouldn't trust in my opinion!)
If I seem sceptical it's because you came here talking about the Buddhist truth, yet you can't really say what that is.
What way is that to have a conversation about anything?
Regards,
Harry.
I can tell you a lot of things about what the Buddhist truth is and still never express it, so I write lots of articles about it where I give lots of examples how one realizes what the Buddist truth is, it is not something you can describe in words, but something you realize. Good night.
Hi Roman,
The Buddhist truth is being expressed everywhere in a supremely real way right now. It has been expressed in simple terms, and it can be expressed in a couple of words with little trouble. That it takes lifetimes to clarify is quite another matter.
Good night,
Harry.
It looks like you guys are having an unsatisfying exchange.
There's some Buddhist Truth!
"Buddhist truth," is as individual as a set of fingerprints.
Most people have eight fingers and two thumbs and only manage to use a few fingers to pick their nose.
Most Buddhists were born enlightened beings yet manage to slumber again by the time they reach the age of majority.
Now they may have the help of evangelicals (of any faith), peer-pressure, and/or culture in their quest for ignorance yet they still carry the flickering light of their own salvation.
Word.
Roman is the new Blog Idiotâ„¢ and Mysterion demotes to Blog Dipshitâ„¢. Sorry, Mysterion, but you have to admit that this Roman fucknut has outperformed you on this thread.
Harry, I have ALWAYS supported you. (Basically because you've always either dismissed what I've written without comment or sort of laughed.) We are a TEAM, bro!
"If I seem sceptical it's because you came here talking about the Buddhist truth, yet you can't really say what that is."
Hey, Harry. Your teammate here again. Uh, I don't want to come across as pushy or anything, but you're going to need to speak American here. It's "skeptical," my friend and teammate.
Brad doesn't take kindly to bastardized language. You Brits have taken our language, handed to us straight from God almighty himself, and done your best to destroy it. Neither Brad nor I can stand by idly and accept this gutter-speak of yours.
Neither Brad nor I can stand by idly and accept this gutter-speak of yours…in bed.
"Neither Brad nor I can stand by idly and accept this gutter-speak of yours…in bed."
Said the Anonymous who has repeatedly asked Brad about his penis.
You're not fooling Harry and me, Anonymous. 😉
Ok, so I'm on Roman & Mysterion's side then.
You have to give Mysterion respect straight out because he's an old guy. (Sorry) And old guys have been in this shithole longer than us, so props there. Who knows if we will last that long? Plus, when we get to be old guys, will we want to be pissed on by young fools? No. So Mysterion gets the elder pass no matter what you think of what he writes. Be Respectful to Your Elders.
Roman gets my support, again, because of the haircut and the sweater. Plus he has a nice blog with a lot of interesting writing and has been practicing for 20 years! Right on! Even if what he writes can come off as offensive and condescending, he still gets my respect because he'll hang in there and have a discussion with others who have an opposing POV.
And you, other anon, you get my respect too because the way you write cracks me up! Witty fellow you are.
Happy Mothers Day to your Mums.
How old is Mysterion? I never really considered that criterion.
I love old people and I'm biased in favor of them.
Harry, you want the Buddhist Truth? Buckle up, motherfucker, here you go…
qwerty
I'm actually much more comfortable with this comment section being about Harry than what it's usually about, which is a bunch of crap.
Kudos, other Anonymous. Keep Harry front and center. I've supported Harry since he BLASTED Mike Chodo Cross.
qwerty? meh…
UIOP !!!
"The student in this monastery should be like milk and water—should be harmonious, should be friendly like milk and water." – Shunryu Suzuki
Jinzang, that quote was stolen from Seagal Rinpoche.
I've never felt more popular :p
It's like (sort of) finding the long lost brother/sister that they took away from me in The Institute.
I quite agree about the US/Brit English language thing… although they had to send it to Ireland to find out how it could be used to write interesting things with.
Regards,
Harry.
I've never sold the Irish short when it comes to writing. My record is crystal-clear on that point. Jonathan Swift wrote about Gulliver and made all these great points about stuff and shit like that. Harry is Swift reincarnated, imo. We need a tulku or something to confirm it, but I'm pretty goddamned confident.
Even Mysterion acknowledges that waking up and falling asleep are everyday aspects of the teaching:
"Most Buddhists were born enlightened beings yet manage to slumber again by the time they reach the age of majority."
Roman, if you want feedback, see if you recall your own words in practice. If so, three bows to the sangha here, and all the commentators, including psychononymous. If not, round up the usual suspects!
ok, 'nonymous, that last comment was funny- what time is it in Ireland, Harry, I've lost my watch!
I think old Swifty had a much more jaded view of humanity than me… and I'm pretty good on that.
As to Tulkus and all those other whacky hat wearing wizards; it amazes me how western liberal types have bought so quickly into that antiquated and oppressive system of political/spiritual rule that was imposed on the poor, uneducated and superstitious (if very smillie) people of Tibet. The lack of criticism of that system among western Buddhist intellectually types is astounding.
I've seen the excesses of that system of privaleged spiritual barons up close myself in the person of the very same Sogyal Rinpoche. What a strange and dubious little man.
Regards,
Harry.
This blog truly helped me today. I'm not being sarcastic or ironic.
Thanks fellow bloggers.
"But principally I hate and detest that animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas, and so forth. This is the system upon which I have governed myself many years, but do not tell, and so I shall go on till I have done with them. I have got materials toward a treatise, proving the falsity of that definition animal rationale, and to show it would be only rationis capax. Upon this great foundation of misanthropy, though not in Timon's manner, the whole building of my Travels is erected; and I never will have peace of mind till all honest men are of my opinion. By consequence you are to embrace it immediately, and procure that all who deserve my esteem may do so too. The matter is so clear that it will admit of no dispute; nay, I will hold a hundred pounds that you and I agree in the point."
– Harry, in a letter to Alexander Pope
1725
Gniz,
Would it be more accurate to say that Harry and I have helped you?
Just asking.
Anyway, I'm just about off here for the day. See you guys later.
Anonymous said…
"You have to give Mysterion respect straight out because he's an old guy."
No, you don't.
AND: "(Sorry) And old guys have been in this shithole longer than us…"
And we still smell like shit.
"Plus, when we get to be old guys, will we want to be pissed on by young fools? No."
Now there IS a universal truth.
"So Mysterion gets the elder pass no matter what you think of what he writes."
I sometimes try to write inflammatory comments to get your THINKING, not your respect.
Whether you "respect" me or not is of (sorry) little consequence to me but of some consequence to you. Anger, fear, hatred, and even anxiety are directed not outward, but inward. Self control is self-preservation. And zazen improves (but hardly perfects) self control in most practitioners. Therefore concentrate on your practice rather than some old fart fanning the flames of your passions (weaknesses) to make them obvious.
If an old man fans a flame on a small candle, will anyone in the next village notice?
It is not better to be pissed off than pissed on. It is better to be neither. Sometimes it helps others to be either.
Funnily enough, Swift was influenced by that other barrel of laughs Thomas Hobbes who I just happen to be reading about due to a leviathan of a three hour written exam tomorrow… that would make anyone loathe the human race.
Regards,
H.
Sorry Mysterion, but you get the edler pass no matter what you think of my writing. But you knew that of course!
Let me guess… 1951?
1948
Wow! What did you think of '57 Elvis? And what year did you become aware of John Cage's work?
Anonymous said…
"Gniz,
"Would it be more accurate to say that Harry and I have helped you?
Just asking."
Ha! This is so laughable it is truly sad. You are anonymous guy.. You don't get credit for shit.
As to Tulkus and all those other whacky hat wearing wizards; it amazes me how western liberal types have bought so quickly into that antiquated and oppressive system of political/spiritual rule that was imposed on the poor, uneducated and superstitious (if very smillie) people of Tibet.
If you ever meet a high lama you will see what remarkable people they are. I am a Tibetan Buddhist, not out of any great love of ritual, but because it seems to produce more enlightened people than any other system of practice.
Jinz, So you say.. But I think you don't know yourself very well. I think you are superstitious. You believe in things you don't understand.
Everyone on this blog helped me today. The comment about all criticism being self-criticism (or whatever the exact phrase was) seemed particularly apt.
It got a certain ball rolling.
Not that I haven't heard the sentiment before, but today–for some reason–it really helped.
So thanks!
Hi Jinz…Maybe you missed the bit where I said I had met one. And practiced in a centre under the auspices of same one for some months. And saw for myself what went on at same centre. And couldn't get further 'with the programme' due to my not being able to square the notion of the same guru being a living buddha (in guru yoga) with my knowing that he'd recently settled out of court in a large cash settlement with a woman he had tried to drunkedly force himself upon…
There's another Centre locally with headed by a lama who is held in very high regard by sensible and sincere people I know however.
That's all besides the point (well, in Sogyal's case it's not) of the whole mushed in heritage of religious and temporal rule that the system is coming from though.
Regards,
Harry.
You raise up your head
And you ask, "Is this where it is ?"
And somebody points to you and says
"It's his"
And you says, "What's mine ?"
And somebody else says, "Where what is ?"
And you say, "Oh my God
Am I here all alone ?"
I think you are superstitious. You believe in things you don't understand.
Like quantum mechanics and general relativity?
Actually, the more you practice, the more you have to leave understanding behind. You take leave of conceptual thought at the second dhyana. If you have hopped on the bus of conceptual understanding, the last stop is well short of the citadel of nirvana.
Jinz said, "Like quantum mechanics and general relativity?"
No actually.. More like Homeopathy, Flying saucers and Tibetan magic.
I've met a tulku before.
He's was a nice enough fellow… a bit formal going to see him and all… gave pretty good advice even though I can't seem to remember my question.
No nicer than other "nice" people though.
Let's see…
I was 9 in 1957 an Elvis was on a 45 RPM single…
My friend (and foe) Doug brought Jailhouse Rock (a 45rpm single) over and we played it on my sister's portable record player…
That's a 4" speaker under the tone arm. A truly STUPID design because of the acoustical feedback to the mechanical pick-up. The Arvin was a real improvement.
I thought the record was vulgar. We were exposed to classical music and rarely to pop.
distorted aspect ratio (horiz. stretch) version of Elvis – as seen on NBC (the only network that allowed black or mixed-race folks to be broadcast). Southern red-necks called NBC the negro broadcasting company.
Elvis probably had a Melungeon among his ancestors. He certainly was gifted with a bass-baritone voice and a 3-octave range. Some incorrectly thought Elvis was a tenor, a baritone and a bass singer.
short verson with correct video aspect ratio
This song put Elvis at the top of the pop charts for years.
We recognized the tune as "Aura Lee."
This version by Jim Reeves
Then, as now, too much knowledge can rain on the pop parade.
"You take leave of conceptual thought at the second dhyana." Nice to hear; second hypnogogic state?
"… as a skilled bath-attendant or (bath-attendant) apprentice, having sprinkled bath-powder into a bronze bowl, might knead it while repeatedly sprinkling it with water until the ball of lather had taken up moisture, was drenched with moisture, suffused with moisture inside and out, but without any oozing. Even so… does (a person) saturate, permeate, suffuse this very body with the rapture and joy that are born of aloofness: there is no part of (the) whole body that is not suffused with the rapture and joy that are born of aloofness." (MN III 92, PTS pg 132-133)
Now I was thinking of the bronze bowl the other morning, and the kneading, and it occurred to me that one hand turns the bowl into the other, as it were. The hands and feet and the teeth all there kneading, the ball one way, the bowl the other. Something like that. But the hypnogogia, consciousness takes place freely. Practice out of necessity and verification, for me of a morning, under control like a boulder down a mountain!
"(the bad person) reflects thus: 'I am an acquirer of the first meditation, but these (others) are not acquirers of the first meditation.' (Such a person) then exults (his or her self) for that attainment of the first meditation and disparages others… But a good person reflects thus: 'Lack of desire even for the attainment of the first meditation has been spoken of by (Gautama); for whatever (one) imagines it to be, it is otherwise." (MN III 42, PTS vol 3 92)
Blogger Jinzang said…
"Like quantum mechanics and general relativity?"
or Quantum thermodynamics…
or (poorly presented) nothing at all…
rather than mu-tees, I prefer ku*-tees.
see: The Essence of Zen: The Teachings of Sekkei Harada, p.110
Interpreting Dogan's use of KU
BTW, the 'Zen schools', founders, and dates were:
Rinzai – Eisai – 1191
Soto – Dogen – 1227
Fuke – Kakushin – 1255
Obaku – Ingen – 1654
Nichiren wanted to destroy Ritsu (Vinyana), Zen, and Pure land sects with his reformed Tendai or Lotus Sutra Cult: "Namu myo-ho Renge-kyo." (Adoration be to the Sutra of the Lotus of the Perfect Truth).
dhyana is defined by Joseph Kitagawa as "concentration of mind." p. 122
as for John Cage, I actually remember seeing this 1960 "Water Walk" LIVE (well, delayed for the west coast). I was 12 at the time.
My favorite moment is the symbol in the bathtub!
Cage was a "non-conformist." But I was impressed. Later I found out that Cage was a Zen Buddhist.
The Brits did a great performance of 4:33.
Here is the Piano Solo
and, for computer geeks, the midi.
We listened to 4:33 in the recital hall at Chico State in 1968 with Dr. David Rothe at the keyboard. His performance was also stellar.
Hello Brad,
I enjoyed your post and agree to an extent. I especially liked the pole vaulting analogy because I think that it was similar to what I was caught up in for a long time. Rather than just being aware of myself and what was going on in my life, I was always looking for the answers by going well outside of myself. I kept hitting my head. I still do it now and then, but being aware of it has been a big help.
Thanks for the insight (and for the good reads).
harry wrote:
The Buddhist truth is being expressed everywhere in a supremely real way right now. It has been expressed in simple terms, and it can be expressed in a couple of words with little trouble. That it takes lifetimes to clarify is quite another matter.
Harry, are you joking?