Author Archives: Helmut

4th of Five Thoughts…

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Although this 4th Thought is aimed at the practice of depriving oneself of good health through extreme physical practices, it is also an invitation to take a good look at our relationship that we have with our physical self. Meditation is primarily a method of using our minds (Our six senses; taste, smell, hearing, seeing, feeling and consciousness (the latter being a Huffington Post-like aggregator of the other “news” that the body sends to the mind), to become aware of how we relate to ourselves, to others and to the world we exist in. What are getting from our food? How are we using food?

” We will eat lest we become lean and die”
The Buddha during his early years followed many aesthetic practices to his physical detriment. One of his realizations concerning the Middle Way was that it also applied to nourishment and being aware of the physical body. That to deprive or hurt the body did nothing to bring one closer to the truth; it is not necessary to be uncomfortable in order to make progress in the spiritual life. There’s plenty of discomfort (mental) coming up as one delves deeper anyway.
This thought reminds us that we must nourish ourselves properly and to take good care of ourselves, We must not be too greedy (#3) nor must we be too abstemious in our food intake. The middle path is the way.
In some Buddhist traditions, like the Theravaden schools, they do not eat after the noon hour. In our tradition we practice the “medicine meal” which is a light optional repast in the evening so that one doesn’t go to bed hungry.
The main idea is not to drift into either extreme. This hold true in all things. The Buddhist trainee tries to adhere to the middle in all things. For most of us it’s probably a good idea to…
Eat! (Not too much).
Enjoy! (Not too much).
Be Content! (as much as possible).

The activity of practicing of adequacy, sufficiency, and contentment are always good boundary guides in the development of Right View, which is the first step on the Eight-fold Path.
We need to have a sense of where, and why, we are going before we set out on a journey.
What is Adequacy? What is Sufficiency? What is Contentment?

 

3rd of Five Thoughts…

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The excluding greed part may initially just consist of cutting back a little on our greeds and indulgences. We are trying to change in accordance with Right View and Right Understanding and Right Effort. This means being practical and not harsh or extreme in our efforts to change. I like to formulate it as refraining from doing something and then using restraint and then after some effort the activity or greed is naturally excluded.

“We must protect ourselves from error by excluding greed from our minds”

This third thought, at its most basic level addresses our attitude towards that food and eating in general.
Wanting too much. Wanting only “good” food. Wanting food we like. Wasting food when we have put too much on our plate. To make eating a central part of our daily existence, etc;
Lots of mistakes come from being greedy about food and drink.
This thought also questions our other desires; i.e. wanting approval, sex, relationships, money, status and the myriad other natural inclinations that can tip into greed or overindulgence.
Many mistakes come from being greedy in those areas.
So, greed is a problem; but also our trying to exclude greed from our minds can be problematic.
Some examples are the alcoholic, the over eater, the sexual compulsive, and those other categories where we overly and overtly indulge, often to our detriment. Ask anyone with those issues how easy they are to control, even when they are aware of them.
In Buddhist practice the way we can approach these “greed” aspects of ourselves, is to be willing to look at and try to change the behavior, without being harsh and judgmental to ourselves, by attempting to actively refrain from indulging in them.
When we make these efforts over a period of time we often find some relief. Willingness seems to be the key.
There are other greed’s that can be very tricky because they seem to be good greed’s.
Spiritual greed. Do-gooder/helper greed. Greed for justice and fairness, etc;
We have lots of historical examples of those greed’s getting out of hand.
In the Five Thoughts, we are looking at greed’s that cause personal difficulties. Those greed’s that come between us and a healthier body, a healthier mind, better relations with other people and with our families.
The greed’s that come between us and The Eternal, or our higher sense of purpose.
Like the previous two “thoughts” there is a whole range of meaning and fruitful endeavor to be considered in the activities of our lives.
These “Thought” questions bring up feelings of insurmountability at times, but in the greater context of “Today I undertake to train myself to refrain from…..”, they are logical challenges to be faced and they become part of the woof and warp of daily life; just like getting gas for the car, tending to plumbing problems, brushing my teeth and generally “getting on with it”.
Within all of these daily efforts moments of pure joy can just arise.

Through these mundane small endeavors a sense of sufficiency, adequacy and contentment can appear, and those three results are a more stable base from which to approach daily life rather than seeking mere circumstantial happiness.

 

2nd of Five Thoughts…

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The main aspect of “Merit” is that it is boundless and in that way an active component of Compassion (Love), which is the gathering and expanding (breathing) aspect of the whole Universe. I think of Merit as a “mass”, which is being acted upon by Compassion a “gravity”, a universal force which we can see and feel the effects of.  Yes, science can describe, measure, and in a small way, manipulate the forces of “gravity”, but can’t explain the what, why and how it actually works. The same can be said of Compassion. The only thing we can say for sure is it’s a good thing that seems to help keep everything together and moving in the right direction.

”We must consider our merit when accepting it.”This speaks to our awareness of ourselves in relation to our food and to the type of life we are living; our way in the world. How are we in it? The concept of “merit” in Buddhism touches on a lot of things.

It can mean the good karma that can result when we are careful in how we treat others and ourselves.
It can mean the merit of having been born in a human body.
It can mean the merit of once having heard the teaching, to undertake to learn it and apply it.
It can mean the merit of having a comfortable life with people and other beings we love that are in it.
It can mean the merit of recognizing ourselves as humans who make mistakes, but want to do better.
Perhaps this “thought” can be a way of asking ourselves a question such as;
“All in all, as I see my life today; I’m extremely fortunate to be in this situation. My life is good and I want to be sure and live it adhering to principles that are based on kindness and compassion. Am I doing my best in this regard?”
In other words, am I worthy of consuming other living things so that I may continue to live?
Kind of harsh.
Still. A good question.
As we consider our merit we want to be alert and not judge ourselves, to look at ourselves calmly and dispassionately.
If we don’t like what we see, we may want to change some things, or at least be willing to.
Since we say these verses several times a day it is not possible
or even good, to dwell too much on the questions that arise.

For me, it’s better to have them nearer, rather than further from my awareness.

This “merit”, which is boundless and I’m the benefactor of, is something that I can also make alive by consciously offering it to others or myself; to situations, to states of mind, or just to help any confusion or misunderstanding. This offering of merit is akin to the proper use of prayer (as I understand it), in the Abrahamic traditions. We are asking for unspecified help that will be useful on a spiritual level. We often don’t sense when we are getting the help because it arrives at the heart level.

Five thoughts revisited…

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   Below is a portion of a blog post from five years ago. I will post parts of it for the next five days, it is about the “Five Thoughts”. previously I published in an altered form of these posts on the “Five Thoughts” in the Journal of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives.    Current thoughts I’ve added in this color.

Before every meal I say the “Five Thoughts”, a portion of the formal mealtime ceremony in Soto Zen. I say the 5 Thoughts to put my life into perspective. It is one of several ritual observances that I find helpful and comforting on a daily basis.

Before I begin eating, I arrange my food so that it is tidily in front of me. If utensils are required I put the main one on the opposite side of the food plate from me, with the handle pointing away from me. This is to indicate that I am willing to share my food with others.
I then recite:

We must think deeply of the ways and means by which this food has come.
We must consider our merit when accepting it.
We must protect ourselves from error by excluding greed from our minds.
We will eat lest we become lean and die.
We accept this food so that we may become enlightened.

“We must think deeply of the ways and means by which this food has come.”   This first thought has to do with truly looking at the food we are having, seeing it for what it is, where it came from and how it got here. It also invites us to look at the forms of life that have to die in order for us to have sustenance. It asks that we pay attention to this food in front of us as if it is our last meal, and to honor the life that was taken/given to provide us with the where-with-all to continue our own life.

I may also reflect on the plates and chairs and tables and the people I’m eating with. How they got here? How I got here?
One can indeed go very deep with this first thought about food.
We are not asked to think of all of these things each and every time we eat but we are asked to recognize the reminder that there is more going on than “fueling the machine”. There are of course times when we do indeed ponder deeply this idea of our actual lives in reference to other lives. Those that are eaten and those that do the eating.
We are asked to see interdependence as the only way that we can live, grow, survive, learn and be aware of what it takes to be alive.
This is the way to compassion for all living things.
Without their offering, we just wouldn’t be. Here.  Furthermore, it enjoins us to not be wasteful with these lives that have been offered .

   It is also a good starting point for practicing this view in relation to all of the things that come into our lives. Just substitute anything for “food”. People, places, things, the phenomena of our world; of our minds, our bodies and how they change; sometimes, just as we thought we’ve learned the “truth”of the matter. It is always good to reflect that we can learn the truth of the matter, much more thoroughly if we see the change as an inherent part of all existence. Change is a major component of the truth. A component not all of it.

Being whatever and wherever…

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Below is a portion of a response to friend who was sharing about the recent death of his father. As is so often the case for me, when I’m talking/writing to someone about real things, I am really talking to myself and letting some inner aspect dictate (in the truest sense), an answer or insight (either large or small), about something that is personal to me experientially, and universal.

Sadly, so often when I’m talking to myself like this, there is  an innocent bystander trying to extricate themselves from my self-knowledge pronouncement. Oh, well. At least its helpful to somebody.

 

Thank you for sharing the obituary as well as some of your thoughts and feelings regarding this rich, precious, unavoidable and deeply touching time in your life. We are fortunate when we can experience the fullness of these “later” life lessons, they are sometimes much more difficult because they are so unpredictable. All our suppositions and musings can get a good trouncing from the dormant and sometimes cleverly disguised feelings, memories, perhaps even wounds and often the unintended glancing blows that families impose/visit on each other. 

My experience is that meditation just opens doors. It’s not a solution as such. The solution, if there is one, can be seen as a by-product of meditation, not the purpose. Meditation allows us to experience our “Selves” in the raw, just as we are; changeable, vulnerable, reactionary, defensive, aggressive, knowing, un-knowing confused, competent, remarkably resilient and possessing a deeper core that we hadn’t needed to activate, yet. Yet, there we are in our miserable splendor. So much to be grateful for. Prayers of thanks spring to the heart of their own at these times. You are well placed.
I have just passed Linda’s 1st anniversary and it has taken that long for things to settle into their little places, now they have a chance to get some rest. Turns out everything just has to move through time and space; atoms and pyramids. The living and the dead.

As a Buddhist monk of my acquaintance says, “We all have to be someplace, and we all have to be doing something.”

Usually what and where we are and what we’re doing is not important, what matters is our state of mind while doing and being whatever and wherever.