Nibbana: Everyone

I see suffering;
I see misery
But I also see
that it has an end!

And that
this
end
is...
glorious!

The Buddha reported
His methods supported
Seeing beyond
the imagination.

And this
is so.
But
How?

Because,
as for what
is beyond
the imagination...

It is
what is
of course!
And that I can see.

And that
everyone
can
see,

If they look carefully
with
a clear mind
and a still body.

Establish: Garbage in, Garbage Out

There’s nothing to be attained and there’s no one here to attain it,
Or so I’ve heard.

But then, who is typing this?

Nobody is typing this.
In fact, there is no typing either.
But what does this mean?
UNKNOWN.

How then do you stop clinging?
YOU can’t.
Because, there’s no YOU to cling,
No YOU to stop clinging,
No clinging and no not clinging.

It’s all a dream
And there’s nothing outside the dream,
As the dream is no different from what there is.
But what is the nature of this dream/what there is?
UNKNOWN.

SYSTEM MEMORY INSUFFICIENT
THIS PROGRAM HAS PERFORMED AN ILLEGAL OPERATION AND WILL BE SHUT DOWN.
SYSTEM CRASH
MEMORY PURGED
SYSTEM RESTART
IGNORANCE IS BLISS,
FOLLOWED BY
SUFFERING,
FOLLOWED BY
THERE IS SUFFERING
BUT WHO IS SUFFERING?
NOBODY.
REALIZATION.
CESSATION OF SUFFERING.
DATA ENDS.

But if I want to eat now,
I still have to make supper!

Espouse: Delving into Impermanence

Impermanence
Is on my mind,
I see it clearly
Whenever I look deeply
Into whatever I find,

My clinging it unbinds,
As I clearly perceive
The pointlessness
Of grasping onto anything;

And too,
Even the experience of
Knowing impermanence
Is impermanent

But if there is a purpose,
It seems to me,
We’re here to know
The freedom of thoroughly knowing:

Suffering
And it’s causes,
Cessation of clinging
And the path to that end,

That all the pleasures
And the pains
Of this world,
Are impermanent,

When one discerns this completely,
This is
The good news of
The Buddha Dhamma,

To discover this
And discern it fully
Is to be wide open to
The truth of the end of suffering.

Endeavouring: Exploring the Stream

If there were a division
Between Nirvana and Samsara,
Nirvana would be unattainable
But as there is no separation,
There is nothing to attain,

Nevertheless, Nirvana is realized
But what is realized?
We all live in delusion
And will continue to do so,

But as this delusion is shared,
There is no reason for sorrow
And yet there is ample justification for compassion,
As attachment to this delusion produces much suffering;

But the good news is
This suffering is
Not distinct from Nirvana,
As they are inseparable;

Looking through suffering,
One sees Nirvana
And looking through Nirvana
One sees there is suffering,

The one supports the other,
So one needs to let go of both
And yet there is no need to let go of either,
For holding on is inseparable from letting go.

Suffering is really no different from not suffering,
So there’s nothing to worry about,
One is always secure,
Always safe;

It’s said that
In understanding one Noble Truth,
For example, suffering, one understands them all.
YES! I think perhaps this is so.

Bunch: Sticky

All is suffering:
I think I get it,
But then I lose it
Get it again, lose it,
Until I’m fed up.

How long does it take
To finally get it?
The answer is stop clinging
But how do I do that?
It’s the eight-fold path,
Or so I gather.

I put some cream in my coffee,
And listened to some more dharma chatter.
Sometimes I feel it doesn’t matter,
But that is merely the hindrance of doubt (or so I’ve heard).
I’m certainly having a bout of skepticism,
And have run out of witticisms.

As I sip my coffee
I reflect upon what I’ve learned,
And on my regrets.
I can’t seem to forget
The price I’ve paid
To get this far.
The bar is high,
And I could use a bit of help.

When I find my way
I’ll be off again,
And it is my hope that
No loss no gain,
No praise or blame,
No success or failure,
No pleasure or pain,
No fame or disrepute
Will disrupt my route.
I’ve planted the seed,
And now I await the fruit.

Blessed: Relief

Yesterday I discovered,
Descending into disappointment,
And nothing else,
Is no problem.

Deep and dark
It felt,
But by itself,
It was
Simple
Weightless
Benign
Inoffensive.

And finding it so,
I was then able
To be open to
Joy
Peace
Ease
Tranquility.

Hence, I see how
Acceptance of
The truth of suffering
And its causes,
Are such important
Lessons to learn.

For when one has
Truly understood
And accepted these,
Deeply,
Liberation from suffering
Becomes possible.

Aboveboard: The Four Noble Confusion

Last time, I began to talk about my reaction to the audio book, Beginner’s Guide to Buddhism, by Jack Kornfield. I was very attracted by the idea that there could be a way out of the terrible suffering caused by my Fibromyalgia, but as yet was not clear how this could possibly be so, and I wasn’t so sure about Buddhism either. The four noble truths outlined by Kornfield—suffering/dissatisfaction, the causes of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path out of suffering—seemed straightforward enough, but the details were less so.

I thought the truth of suffering was fairly obvious, given my situation, but the causes he described were not. I really wanted to know the causes, but “grasping and clinging!?” I hadn’t expected that. He went on to say that these “[lead] to greed, hatred and delusion, which creates suffering.”

At this point he completely lost me, because I thought my pain was my problem, but then he picked it up again, with the very true and relevant fact that we always want things to be a certain way but inevitably find that they are not, and then we suffer.

When it came to the truth of the cessation of suffering—Nirvana or liberation—of course, that sounded good—though I knew nothing about it. He said this happens when we give up “the body of fear;” when we “quiet the mind and open the heart,” then we can achieve liberation. But the “how” was still missing! How do we make this happen?

He said that the path leading to the cessation of suffering is “the middle path, or the eight-fold path, . . . when we live in the reality of the present . . . [and] respond with compassion rather than react with greed, hatred or delusion.”

He listed the 8 parts of the path and briefly described them. While this was interesting it didn’t make much of an impression on me. More importantly, as far as I was concerned, was the idea that you can learn to be here and know you’re here without suffering from or getting caught up in what’s happening, but instead to respond to this present wisely and compassionately. The moral tone of some aspects of the path did not appeal to me, as I wasn’t feeling very well disposed towards anyone else, having been rejected and put down because of this invisible burden I was carrying around.

I was ready for some serious relief, but how could I get it?

Next time: Enough about theories, what about specific methods!?

About-turn: Buddha’s Story

As explained earlier, the searing pain of Fibromyalgia motivated me to seek answers. Having already exhausted the affordable medical and naturopathic options, I immersed myself in an imaginary realm of my own creation. In the process of attempting to manufacture this escape route I decided I had to create a religion for one of my characters. Searching the Internet for ideas brought me back to Buddhism. Last time, I concluded that while this expedition had revitalized my fiction, it had not improved my reality. Then, I stumbled across an audio book by Jack Kornfield called, Beginner’s Guide to Buddhism (Louisville, USA: Sounds True 2002).

In this work, Kornfield explains that he is going to describe the “essential practices and teachings offered by the Buddha,” which originated 2500 years ago. “The word Buddha means one who has awakened . . . to their true nature and sees it in all beings,” he says, adding “we too can discover this in ourselves and the teachings of Buddhism are a way to fulfill that reality.”

‘Okay, Jack, but how in the world is this going to help me?’ I silently complained to thin air.

But by this time I was so desperate and I felt so ill that I lacked the energy to get up and turn the flipping thing off, so I continued listening anyway.

Now I learned that prior to his awakening, the Buddha lived a sheltered privileged life, but one day his view of the world was shattered by his observation of the prevalence of suffering, in the form of sickness, aging, and death. At the same time, he discovered that others too were already seeking answers to the problem of how to respond to these unpleasant realities. At once, he resolved to join in this quest. After years of searching and struggle he finally found a way to free himself from suffering. Out of compassion he committed himself to teach others the path to liberation.

This bit caught my attention, to say the least, but then he broke off from the tale and explained how he became a monk in a monastery, where he learned the practices of this path.

Then, returning to the thread, he identified the central core of the teachings as "The Four Noble Truths." These are: the truth of suffering or dissatisfaction (which I thought I already knew all too well), the causes of suffering (which I had concluded were pain and more pain), the cessation of suffering (I wish!!!), and the path to this end (I can hardly wait!!!).

Next time: okay, I’ve heard the truths, but I’m still suffering. Now what?