Author: ericcoker1974

From the Buddhist teachings on emptiness to Plato’s allegory of the cave to a more modern view of the brain as a virtual reality machine, we are often told that what we think is real is actually more like an illusion… like a mirage, or a rainbow.  

What are we to do with claims like these?  How do we avoid the trap of nihilism when we take on a radical understanding of reality in pursuit of freedom from suffering?  One clue may be in the sanskrit word “maya” which translates as illusion, but also means “made of” which points to the creative, generative potential of this illusory nature of reality.  

This Sunday Eric guided us on a tour of the maya-koshas (veils) from the yogic tradition and link them to the establishments of mindfulness (satipatthana) from the Buddhist tradition, providing a framework for practice that can guide our explorations of these ideas which can be both unsettling and freeing.

Dharma practice can seem paradoxical. Or at the very least, the instructions can be contradictory.  But maybe that paradox arises because we are attached to a certainty about what our practice should be.  

As with everything else, our practice is impermanent.  What practice requires from us changes with time because conditions change with time.  

Should we be humble or confident?  Engaged or disenchanted?  Effortful or Effortless?  (Spoiler alert… the final words of this week’s talk is “It depends.”)  

Eric attempted to guide us through this contradictory waterway, drawing on traditional ways of resolving contradictions, as well as being informed by Matthew Brensilver’s recent talks about navigating to and through the different poles of our practice life.

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/97502

As the old koan goes… “Not Knowing is Most Intimate.”  A few months ago, Eric shared this talk from Matthew Brensilver on knowing and not knowing.  This Sunday, he brought a few reminders from that talk (Knowing and Not Knowing are not opposite ends of a spectrum… Not Knowing is not ignorance, but an “unwillingness to cover over the mystery with self-serving certainties”) in order to set up this talk from Brian Lesage on intimacy.  We discussed the relationship the old monk in the story was pointing at…. how is it that “not knowing is most intimate?”  And how can that free the heart and mind?

From Joanna Macy, “World as Lover, World as Self” : “the practice of vipassana, or insight meditation, represents a short-circuiting of the codes and constructs we impose upon reality… Rather that eliminating noise to extract message, the meditator switches off the message in order to attend to the noise.”

A monk asked Yunmen, “What is the teaching of a lifetime?” Yunmen replied “An appropriate response.” (Blue Cliff record, case 14)

This first Sunday of the new year we spent some time sharing how we are feeling about the world, and from that place of group mindfulness, discussed what it means to have an appropriate response to it, and how our practice can inform that response.

Eric led us off with the Zen quote above as well as the 1st 2 verses from the Dhammapadda (trans. Gil Fronsdal):

All experience is preceded by mind,
     Led by mind,
     Made by mind.
Speak or act with a corrupted mind,
     And suffering follows
As the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox.

All experience is preceded by mind,
     Led by mind,
     Made by mind.
Speak or act with a peaceful mind,
     And happiness follows
Like a never-departing shadow.

Meditation was kicked off with Hala Alyan’s poem “Spoiler” as read by Matthew Brensilver at the end of this meditation. The poem is read at time stamp 22:35, but you might want to listen to the entire mediation for context, knowing that this is from a retreat in 2020, the middle of the covid pandemic.

How do we turn the ship heading towards disaster?  Joanna Macy, who passed away recently, was one figure who popularized the idea of “The Great Turning,” in which we collectively turn away from our habitual self-centered way of being in the world to a connection based on awareness of our interdependence.   For decades, she led workshops that culminated with “The Work that Reconnects” to help others find how they can contribute to The Great Turning.  Step One : Gratitude.  This weekend Eric shared a talk Joanna gave at the start of one of these workshops at Spirit Rock.  

https://www.dharmaseed.org/talks/12595

To learn more about Joanna and her work, especially her translations of Rilke, Eric recommended a 2010 interview with her by Krista Tippett.

Joanna Macy — A Wild Love for the World