Rather than sitting with a Shakespeare sonnet for a few minutes, just pondering the beauty and meaning of it, we might read ten of them quickly and then feel a bit befuddled. Similarly, one might read though a dense little work like this one without stopping to ponder each paragraph along the way and thus perhaps get little out of it. Just so, we may be constantly trying to find the next teacher, book, spiritual scene, technique, incense, mantra, costume, or doctrine that will get us the Big E. Quick results are actually possible, though there are no promises about the speed of progress that can be given. Real progress will only come when we settle into the basics, into this moment, and go deep.
These lists are good sources of the basic teachings that are sufficient to do the trick. Go deeply into them, or find them in another form, perhaps in another tradition, and go deeply into them. Slow down.
Settle into these simple truths, reflect, and then practice with diligence!
Good teachers can help; they are nearly a necessity and so are highly recommended, but you must do the work yourself. You must
understand, and then you will have to do this again and again. Get used to it, as it can be quite an adventure.
It is sometimes hard for people to believe that right there in their experience is what they are looking for. It is right here, right now, in your own experience, in your own heart, mind and body. It is these sensations right now that are just soaked with the truth.
Forgive me, but one more time up on my soapbox. There is so
much completely useless and harmful sectarianism in the spiritual world, within Buddhism and between Buddhism and the other spiritual traditions. People can get so into their particular trip and get all down on the other perfectly good spiritual trips. This is faith out of balance causing rigid adherence to dogma, isn't it? This is a lack of understanding of what the basics are and what are just the inevitable cultural trappings and individual emphases of each tradition.
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Conclusion to Part I
These are the basics. Wherever you find a tradition with the components of even one of these lists, regardless of what they are called or how they are formulated, you find a tradition with the potential to awaken. Sure, there is a lot of junk spirituality out there, but there is also a lot of really good stuff.
Again, each tradition has its strengths and weaknesses, and some may have cultural trappings and ornamentation that you like or don't like, but don’t make a big deal about this.
Instead, keep the basics in the front of your mind. Each valid tradition can help us gain further insight into the truth, and perhaps we will resonate with one teaching or tradition at one time and another some time later. Alternately, we can pick one tradition, not be sectarian about it, and go deep into it, into the simplicity and clarity of its basics, using its extrapolations, elaborations and interpretations to go back more deeply into the simple truths. We can engage with the ordinary world, with the truth of this moment, and this will empower us and may awaken us.
May this writing be of benefit to you and all beings, and may you and all beings realize the simple truth of things in this lifetime.
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PART II: LIGHT AND SHADOWS
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12.INTRODUCTION TO PARTS II & III
Some chapters in Parts II and III have a distinctly cutting tone. This is intentional, though no harm is meant by it. There are a lot of shadow sides to Buddhism and mystical traditions in general, some of which will be discussed here. Perhaps a more cutting tone will help to illuminate points that tend to be unmentioned or poorly addressed. Perhaps it will also serve to spark skillful debate and inquiry, rather than causing needless contraction into fear and dogma. However, I should warn you now, some of the next three chapters have quite a bite to them. There is no information in those chapters that is essential to any of the basic practices. If you are not in the mood for some really heavy and scathing social commentary on Western Buddhism, please, skip to the chapter called A Clear Goal now!
The practical reason for including Part II at all is that what often happens between trying to apply the basics of technical meditation discussed in Part I and the successful entry into real meditation territory discussed in Part III is that we run into the mainstream culture of Western Buddhism and the communities that develop around it. We need support, friends who are into what we are into, good teachers and places to practice. We wish to be in the company of fellow adventurers rather than lone wanderers in strange lands. Unfortunately, much of what we find is not particularly conducive to adventure and deep exploration at all.
Thus, as one small dissenting voice against the tide, I have included Part II to help those who want to go much deeper than most of those around them and avoid the numerous cultural sidetracks and
disempowering voices that will keep them from their goals. It is as much a laundry list of my pet peeves as it is anything else, but I am happy to own my neuroses and make them overt. While I may be fooling myself, I think this section, while a bit harsh and probably disrespectful, is likely to be helpful to someone who also wishes to go against the grain and become an actual meditation master.
The real dangers that come from using a cutting tone are that it will alienate both readers for whom such a tone is simply not helpful and those who could really benefit from such a tone but do not want to admit this. Worse, it may cause others to agree too strongly, thinking,
Introduction to Parts II & III
“Oh, yes, even though that Daniel fellow sometimes writes like a raving lunatic, he and I are really on the same side. We know what is going on.
Those over there are the ones who really need to hear this.”
We all need to hear the points made in this book, myself included, though not necessarily in the style presented here. The ideals and standards presented in this book are very high so that they will be able to be applied universally. Further, the numerous traps and pitfalls presented in this book are also so common that all of us need to be wary, reflecting regularly and honestly on how we have fallen into them once more.
There are quite a number of very readable, helpful and friendly dharma books out there, e.g. Jack Kornfield’s encyclopedic masterwork, A Path with Heart, many of which are loaded with brilliant statements that should basically shock and confound the reader, hitting at the very core of their sense of identity with the deadly accuracy of a Master of Zen Archery. However, as they have been written in a style that is so completely accessible, these statements have nearly the opposite effect, creating a mushy comfort in the reader with statements that should have stopped them in their proverbial tracks and provoked deep inquiry.
I have grown tired of people routinely quoting profound dharma statements from such works as if this represents their understanding when they have no idea what they mean. They seem to derive some false comfort from being able to parrot the masters. While I can understand the appeal of behaving in such ways, as I have done so myself on numerous occasions, I will do my best to keep the second two parts of this book from contributing to this phenomena. Thus, I have intentionally written some sections of Parts II and III in a style that is designed to sound combative and abrasive. Also, I must admit that it was fun to write that way.
It should be noted that if you got through Part I (which I tried to make very “accessible”) without being stunned at the staggering profundity of the statements made on nearly every page, then you either have no need to read this book or you fell into the trap I just mentioned above. I think that most spiritual practitioners could and should become very much more comfortable admitting what they don’t know and 89
Introduction to Parts II & III