Biocentrism.

I have recently come across an interesting science theory call Biocentrism as proposed by scientist Robert Lanza. I was fascinated with the many connections between it and much Buddhist philosophy. I will give you a quick run-down of what Biocentrism is about via wikipedia, which isn't the best source but it's the easiest for my purposes but I encourage you to read about it further. Biocentrism posits that life created the universe and not the other way around as traditional science has taught us. This blends nicely into the Buddhist concept that reality is what our limited and deluded mind makes of it. The seven principles of Biocentrism are as follows. Note the similarities between it and Buddhist thought:

1). What we perceive as reality is a process that involves our consciousness. An "external" reality, if it existed, would by definition have to exist in space. But this is meaningless, because space and time are not absolute realities but rather tools of the human and animal mind.

2). Our external and internal perceptions are inextricably intertwined. They are different sides of the same coin and cannot be divorced from one another.

3). The behavior of subatomic particles, indeed all particles and objects, is inextricably linked to the presence of an observer. Without the presence of a conscious observer, they at best exist in an undetermined state of probability waves.

4). Without consciousness, "matter" dwells in an undetermined state of probability. Any universe that could have preceded consciousness only existed in a probability state.

5). The structure of the universe is explainable only through biocentrism. The universe is fine-tuned for life, which makes perfect sense as life creates the universe, not the other way around. The "universe" is simply the complete spatio-temporal logic of the self.

6). Time does not have a real existence outside of animal-sense perception. It is the process by which we perceive changes in the universe.

7). Space, like time, is not an object or a thing. Space is another form of our animal understanding and does not have an independent reality. We carry space and time around with us like turtles with shells. Thus, there is no absolute self-existing matrix in which physical events occur independent of life.

James: Then there is this following excerpt from a different article about how scientist Robert Lanza rediscovered this idea that Buddhists have believed for eons. It is a nice image of what is being talked about with this theory and startlingly reminds me of Indra's Net metaphor:

The farther we peer into space, the more we realize that the nature of the universe cannot be understood fully by inspecting spiral galaxies or watching distant supernovas. It lies deeper. It involves our very selves. This insight snapped into focus one day while one of us (Lanza) was walking through the woods. Looking up, he saw a huge golden orb web spider tethered to the overhead boughs. There the creature sat on a single thread, reaching out across its web to detect the vibrations of a trapped insect struggling to escape. The spider surveyed its universe, but everything beyond that gossamer pinwheel was incomprehensible. The human observer seemed as far-off to the spider as telescopic objects seem to us. Yet there was something kindred: We humans, too, lie at the heart of a great web of space and time whose threads are connected according to laws that dwell in our minds.

James: As Nobel physicist John Wheeler once said, “No phenomenon is a real phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon.” I look forward to reading more about this theory as I am very fascinated with interactions between science and Buddhism. If everyone and everything is interdependent and interconnected then I see no reason why Buddhism and science have to be mutually exclusive. It seems to me that many of the theories posited by both are quite similar.

PHOTO CREDIT: University of Chicago Press

~Peace to all beings~

Happy Rohatsu!! Otherwise Known as Bodhi Day.

Today is the day that we Buddhists celebrate the enlightenment of Buddha and thus rejoice in the path of peace and liberation from suffering, which he so selflessly offered up to us and made his life's mission. It is a day that changed the world and I seek to keep that vision and energy alive today. I dedicate this next year to working harder at better representing Buddha's teachings and essence and I apologize for my faults in this area whenever they pop up as they inevitably do and will. In particular, my wish is that next Rohatsu be one that greets a liberated Tibet, a liberated China, a liberated Burma and liberation in all forms for all of us. I hope you all had an insightful and peaceful Rohatsu and I bow to you all.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wat Khmer Tepthidaram

~Peace to all beings~

The Balancing Buddha.

James: This is a long article and I wanted to add my usual analysis and personal note with a quoted story but I think the author, Joan Gattuso says it all in this very well done article. So I'm going to quote the entire article here. It's a Tricycle piece and while I've been critical of them of late it was mostly in relation to one specific article and I will always recognize good writing regardless of the publication or person. It'll be a bit long but it's a really thoughtful article on the dangers of aestheticism in relation to the Middle Path of balance between aestheticism and extreme sensual indulgence:

"THE MIDDLE WAY is achieved when one reaches that point of cosmic balance between austerity and the creature comforts of the world. The ascetics who were with the Buddha were critical of him because he was no longer living an austere lifestyle. They considered his life too “cushy.” He was eating beautiful food and wearing a fine robe, while they existed on a few grains of rice and slept uncovered on a bed of nails.

The ascetics asked the Buddha, “What kind of teacher and yogi are you? You are soft, weak, indulgent.”

To which the Buddha replied, “I, too, have slept on nails; I’ve stood with my eyes open to the sun in the hot sands beside the Ganges. I’ve eaten so little food that you couldn’t fill one fingernail with the amount I ate each day. Whatever ascetic practices under the sun human beings have done, I, too, have done. Through them all I have learned that fighting against oneself through such practices is not the way.”

Through the years I have known a few ascetic-type personalities who forever deny the body, its needs, and its care. One young man I knew was so physically beautiful and so unhappy and grim. His eating habits were very austere and unpleasant. He always seemed to be miserable in the pursuit of his spiritual awareness. He munched on raw garlic cloves like they were peanuts and insisted they left no pungent odor on his breath. The rest of the world did not agree. I recall one acquaintance saying to this fellow that he would probably throw himself under a train rather than eat a Frito. His response was, “What’s a Frito?” If misery, self-denial and selfimposed suffering were the way to get “it,” we would all have gotten “it” a long time ago.

The Buddha emphasized the Middle Way, which he likened to the successful playing of the lute, the strings being not too taut, not too loose, but with just the right amount of pressure. We all need to seek a way to bring forth such balance in our own lives.

I deeply believe that it is vital to our spiritual practice that we become spiritually disciplined. Without spiritual discipline we are never going to wake up or advance on our soul’s journey through this life. But our discipline must be wedded to joy, and we must find pleasure in the myriad wonders that this life offers.

I smile when I recall taking Buddhist friends, Tibetan and American, to the airport. A young monk asked the American Buddhist if he could wheel her carry-on through the airport, because it was maroon and better matched his robes than his own tan one. We all laughed, the woman complied, and the monk was color-coordinated. He may have given up much of this world’s offerings, but within him remained an artistic sense of color—balance.

It isn’t that we can’t enjoy the finer things in life, we just need to know they are not our life. Those practicing the Middle Way know this. They can take in what is offered and available without being consumed by it. Their eyes discern beauty, even from the mundane. Their ears discern harmony from discordant notes. Their taste discerns pleasure from bland food. Their noses discern subtle notes of pleasant fragrance from the rancid.

We would have to be a bit off to choose the mundane, discordant, foul, and putrid to believe these will lead to spiritual awakening. So we choose the pleasant and do not allow it to possess us. When we don’t get what we would prefer, we don’t allow ourselves to become unbalanced and miserable—adding to our own suffering. We see it for what it is, and we are able to remain detached and move on." ▼

From The Lotus Still Blooms: Sacred Buddhist Teachings for the Western Mind, © 2008 by Joan Gattuso. Reprinted with permission from the Penguin Group.

PHOTO CREDIT: The Starving Buddha. Stunning photo by Chiang Mai. The Buddha had thought he would be able to escape the pain of reincarnation and attain nirvana, if he focused on the godhead to the exclusion of all else. So he decided not to eat and drink. The skin slowly shrivelled up and the Greek god-like body, a common feature of Hellenistic art of the time – as well as of scores of other Buddhas in that room -- was consumed in the trauma of wilful self-abnegation. The Buddha’s eyes receded into dark hollows, his cheeks became blades of bone and his rib-cage a shocking skeleton. The facial hair is grey on the dark-blue stone. (James: It was after this starvation period that Buddha settled upon the balanced path of moderation between the two extremes).

~Peace to all beings~

Global Warning and Eating a Meat Based Diet.

This is a short 3 minute video. PLEASE watch it. It won't take much time out of your day but the effects could be monumental.

~Peace to all beings~

Mass Animal Killing Takes Place in Nepal.

PTI, November 24, 2009

Kathmandu, Nepal -- Despite appeals to halt the centuries-old custom of animal sacrifice, Gadhimai festival on Tuesday started in southern Nepal with millions of devotees flocking from various parts of the country and India. Thousands of buffaloes are waiting to be sacrificed at the Gadhimai Mela, the largest "animal slaughter" in the world.

It is estimated that some 35,000 to 40,000 buffaloes, which are brought mostly from India, for the world's largest ritual sacrifice at the temple. French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has sent a letter to President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, asking him to stop animal sacrifice at the festival. "I personally find it hard to imagine that your heart can withstand such cruelty, knowing that you, being the head of the country, are ultimately responsible," she wrote. Tibetan Buddhist master Lama Zopa Rinpoche had requested all Buddhist centres and students to read the Golden Sutra and pray for halting the killing.

James: Nepal!! You're breaking my heart!! This story makes my stomach churn with sickness to think of 35,000 to 40,000 innocent animals being slaughtered in the name of spirituality??? I try to be very open minded about religious customs but this is one that I can't be silent over. To be sure this is mass genocide. I see these animals as no different than human beings so this ritual killing horrifies me to the point of nausea. It surprises me that Hindus would engage in such carnage especially given how sacred cows are to them--both cows and water buffaloes are of the bovine family. This "festival" seems in total contradiction to that as well as the teaching of Ahimsa (do no harm, practice non-violence). It is said that to kill a cow in Hinduism is like killing a Brahman so how do they reconcile this festival with that teaching?

It's not my place to tell Hindus what to do in their religion but I beg of them to contemplate how this festival could be in keeping with ahimsa and the sacred veneration of cows. I'm trying not to let anger slip into my heart over this so I will follow the advice of Lama Zopa to read and contemplate the Golden Sutra today (also known as the Golden Light Sutra). It is a sutra that is often coupled with a vow to domestic animals killed that they might be reborn in the human realm. It is usually done by those who have killed animals and wish to atone. I will also be reading and contemplating the Lankavatara Sutra and especially Chapter 8, which speaks of animals and eating meat. I dedicate any merit or good will cultivated from this to all the animals slaughtered during the festival and to the participants that they might realize the suffering they are causing and end it. This is interesting timing with the coming of Thanksgiving here in America. Another holiday where people slaughter animals and come together as friends and family. I don't understand why animals have to be killed in order to celebrate family togetherness. Below I have put together some of the main points of Chapter 8:

Thereby I and other Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas of the present and future may teach the Dharma to make those beings abandon their greed for meat, who, under the influence of the habit-energy belonging to the carnivorous existence, strongly crave meat-food. These meat-eaters thus abandoning their desire for [its] taste will seek the Dharma for their food and enjoyment, and, regarding all beings with love as if they were an only child, will cherish great compassion towards them. Cherishing [great compassion], they will discipline themselves at the stages of Bodhisattvahood and will quickly be awakened in supreme enlightenment; or staying a while at the stage of Śrāvakahood and Pratyekabuddhahood, they will finally reach the highest stage of Tathagatahood. Indeed, let the Blessed One who at heart is filled with pity for the entire world, who regards all beings as his only child, and who possesses great compassion in compliance with his sympathetic feelings, teach us as to the merit and vice of meat-eating, so that I and other Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas may teach the Dharma.

Mahāmati, in this long course of transmigration here, there is not one living being that, having assumed the form of a living being, has not been your mother, or father, or brother, or sister, or son, or daughter, or the one or the other, in various degrees of kinship; and when acquiring another form of life may live as a beast, as a domestic animal, as a bird, or as a womb-born, or as something standing in some relationship to you; [this being so] how can the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva who desires to approach all living beings as if they were himself and to practise the Buddha-truths, eat the flesh of any living being that is of the same nature as himself? There is no logic in exempting the meat of some animals on customary grounds while not exempting all meat.

James: In other words, you wouldn't eat your dog or cat so why eat any other animals? I have read the sutras that speak of Buddha saying eating meat is o.k. for monks because they can't be picking and choose what food to accept and not accept. I also know that in some countries the climate does not permit much vegetable growing and some people need meat for the diet though that is being questioned by modern science. So I do not believe Buddhism requires vegetarianism but I do think it is a helpful practice to help cultivate compassion and non-violent attitudes. I try not to be judgmental and forceful when it comes to vegetarianism because that doesn't help convince people of vegetarianism but instead drives them away and causes more suffering. I just let the sutras speak, give my own opinion (it is my blog after all) and as is just in my view -- let people decide for themselves. I do think, however, that we can all agree (or at least most of us) that is "festival" in Nepal is barbaric and excessive. I hope that one day soon it will be abolished.

Om shanti shanti shanti (Hindu mantra of peace).

~Peace to all beings (especially today, water buffaloes in Nepal!!)~

Thank-You Tibet!

James: When you think of the awesome power of the Chinese Communist Party and the relative weakness of Tibet one would think that Tibetan culture would have been extinguished like a butter lamp being blown out by a cold, Himalayan wind. Countless Tibetans have fled Chinese occupied Tibet for decades upon decades but the most important aspect to the exodus was the knowledge carried out with these hearty folks -- especially the monks and elders. They have carried with them the sacred and historic traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and the greater Tibetan culture. So while Tibet itself is still under siege the Tibetan heart is alive and beating strong. Tibetans have been adopted and taken in by the world and all have benefited. Tibetans are given sanctuary to ride out the storm of religious intolerance and militant occupation of their homeland and the world has been given access to the precious jewel of Tibet -- Tibetan Buddhism.

To be sure Tibetans must long for home and be greatly pained to see their homeland changed so much. As well as obviously worrying for their friends, family and fellow Tibetans still living in that stunningly beautiful country. However, if any peoples are prepared to outlast and actually thrive due to such change and upheaval it would be the Tibetan people. That is because most of them are Buddhist and as we fellow Buddhists know the core of the Buddha's teachings are on how to deal with suffering and change. Surely some Tibetans wanted to stand and fight--and some did but the majority knew it was better to push that ego aside and move on toward India and the greater Tibetan diaspora so that their culture could survive. If they would have stayed to fight then they would have probably been nearly completely wiped out as a people and as a culture. Their traditions would have been lost under the dusty, dirty boot of oppression but as it is their culture is alive and well in dozens of countries keeping the flame burning.

Thich Nhat Hanh has often spoke of what it means to have a home and what is our true home. He like the Dalai Lama is an exile from his homeland. In Nhat Hanh's case, Vietnam:

Who amongst us has a true home? Who feels comfortable in their country? After posing this question to the retreatants for contemplation, I responded. I said: “I have a home, and I feel very comfortable in my home.” Some people were surprised at my response, because they know that for the last thirty-eight years I have not been allowed to return to Vietnam to visit, to teach, or to meet my old friends and disciples. But although I have not been able to go back to Vietnam , I am not in pain. I do not suffer, because I have found my true home.

My true home is not in France where Plum Village practice center is located. My true home is not in the United States . My true home cannot be described in terms of geographic location or in terms of culture. It is too simplistic to say I am Vietnamese. In terms of nationality and culture, I can see very clearly a number of national and cultural elements in me –– Indonesian, Malaysian, Mongolian, and others. There is no separate nationality called Vietnamese; the Vietnamese culture is made up of other cultural elements. I have a home that no one can take away, and I feel very comfortable in that home. In my true home there is no discrimination, no hatred, because I have the desire and the capacity to embrace everyone of every race, and I have the aspiration, the dream to love and help all peoples and all species. I do not feel anyone is my enemy. Even if they are pirates, terrorists, Communists, or anti-Communists, they are not my enemies. That is why I feel very comfortable.

Every time we listen to the sound of the bell in Deer Park or in Plum Village , we silently recite this poem: “I listen, I listen, this wonderful sound brings me back to my true home.” Where is our true home that we come back to? Our true home is life, our true home is the present moment, whatever is happening right here and right now. Our true home is the place without discrimination, the place without hatred. Our true home is the place where we no longer seek, no longer wish, no longer regret. Our true home is not the past; it is not the object of our regrets, our yearning, our longing, or remorse. Our true home is not the future; it is not the object of our worries or fear. Our true home lies right in the present moment. If we can practice according to the teaching of the Buddha and return to the here and now, then the energy of mindfulness will help us to establish our true home in the present moment.

James: The Dalai Lama and many, many Tibetans understand this concept and thus where ever they are, they are home. We should all do this regardless of what country we live in. We could be living in our home country yet still feel disconnected from it, which can make us feel isolated and maybe even ignored. If, however, we follow the advice of The Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh then we will never feel alone where ever we go because home is not a place but rather a state of being/mind. Our true home travels with us and can be accessed at any time. It can not be taken away regardless of how many foreign soldiers might occupy our country. So, In recognition of the survival of Tibetans and Tibetan culture, 2010 will be a year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Tibetan resilience. An organization called, Thank You Tibet! is setting up a community online to find creative ways to honor Tibetan culture and people. If you have some time and the inclination do check it out because who amongst us hasn't benefited in someway by Tibetan culture?

~Peace to all beings~

Spiritual Experiences and Spiritual Realizations.

In Buddhism, we distinguish between spiritual experiences and spiritual realizations. Spiritual experiences are usually more vivid and intense than realizations because they are generally accompanied by physiological and psychological changes. Realizations, on the other hand, may be felt, but the experience is less pronounced. Realization is about acquiring insight. Therefore, while realizations arise out of our spiritual experiences, they are not identical to them. Spiritual realizations are considered vastly more important because they cannot fluctuate.

The distinction between spiritual experiences and realizations is continually emphasized in Buddhist thought. If we avoid excessively fixating on our experiences, we will be under less stress in our practice. Without that stress, we will be better able to cope with whatever arises, the possibility of suffering from psychic disturbances will be greatly reduced, and we will notice a significant shift in the fundamental texture of our experience.

- Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, “Letting Go of Spiritual Experience,” Tricycle, Fall 2004. Special thanks to Phil for the quote.

James: When I first started practicing the Dharma and meditation in particular I would have these spiritual experiences such as a feeling as though I was floating while meditating. I have had amazingly vivid and seemingly real dreams of being visited by great Buddhist teachers during deep contemplation while sitting. However, in my opinion they are like empty calories in the long run of my practice. It's like eating a gooey, sugary treat while hiking, which gives me an explosion of tasty pleasure but in the long run it is empty of the kind of energy needed for sustained progress along the path. If I indulge in these sugary treats too much then I get a stomach ache and realize that the special treats if indulged in too much can cause more suffering than benefit.

Spiritual experiences like moments where visions of enlightenment break through my ego-mind barriers and tempt me to obsess over them like a sugary but empty food. They are shiny objects for the ego-mind to latch onto and use to claim some sort of exceptionalism, which (I have found in my personal experience) is a result of placing too much importance to these experiences

When I have had spiritual experiences they are quick bursts of exciting phenomena experienced while meditating that explode into my mind like a bright comet, which enthrall me but burn out quickly. I find, however, that realizations are rare but that they, unlike a comet are like earthquakes that shift, shatter and altar my life forever. For example, it was nice, entertaining and tantalizing to feel so at one with things while meditating that it felt like my body was blurred and blended into the surroundings like I was the subject of an artist's painting. Whenever I feel this, it always makes me happy but is nothing like actually realizing (and thus seeing) emptiness in all things and places without having to induce it through deep meditation.

~Peace to all beings~