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Teachings from the Heart (part 0)

mood: excited
From now until whenever I finish, I would like to share some Buddhist materials that I've been thinking about a lot lately. It would mean a lot to me if you would read it all and post your own thoughts, but I understand that that might not be universally interesting. I'll try to remember to make liberal use of LJ-Cuts to help control the visual clutter for uninterested parties.

Please take note of the fact that this is an evolving work in progress, and old entries in the series are being edited and updated even as new entries are being written.


Soon, I will share the text of Thich Nhat Hanh's The Heart of Understanding Before that, however, I had wanted to explain what it is that I'm doing and what I hope to accomplish. Unfortunately, I'm writing this at a somewhat inopportune time, being short on sleep and distracted. So instead of trying to be comprehensible in prose, I'm going to provide links to materials which will explain by implication what this is all about. If you'd like me to detail any of this further, leave a comment and start a conversation.

The Heart of Understanding at:


Correspondence with Parallax Press:


The fruits of my labor thus far:


Thanks again to Parallax Press, without whose support I would be unable to (legally) undertake this project. They have many dharma books available for sale through their website at http://www.parallax.org.

Posted on Mar. 18th, 2005 at 12:18 am | | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Comments


[info]ladyarian

Tsk. It may be awhile before I can pick up the book myself, but I'm always interested in reading your take on the spirit. Reminds me of many late-night Denny's trips. :)

Interestingly enough, I just read a niftly little book on how knitting can be a form of meditation. The author supposed that this was because it promoted both a sense of stillness, and one of "mindfulness" at the same time. Am I recalling correctly that "Right Thought" is one of the eightfold paths of wisdom? Gave me something to chew on, that perhaps I'll post at some point.
Posted on Mar. 14th, 2005 03:22 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

[info]jrbl

Thank you for showing interest in the project. It helps.

There is right thought. Depending on how you look at thought, you could use the classical "Right Mindfulness" or "Right Concentration", which are subtly different in ways that I'm not smart enough to describe at an hour such as this. If you would care for elaboration, I would be happy to elaborate more in the future, though.

It may be awhile before I can pick up the book myself

Ah, but you see, that's the point: you can read it all right here. :)
Posted on Mar. 19th, 2005 04:13 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

[info]ladyarian

It was my thought that "right mindfulness" was not really the same as thinking about what you were doing, in the mundane way we mean it, but more like...putting your mind into whatever you're doing. Being aware of what you're doing, and how it has its own unique sacredness.

*shakes head* Something like that.
Posted on Mar. 19th, 2005 04:22 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

[info]jrbl

mindfullness

There have been whole books written about mindfulness, and lots of them (I could have gone on linking to things all day). It's a hard thing to talk about. Not because mindfulness is a complicated thing intrinsically, but because by it's nature it can't be directly discussed. It's like we can talk about the outline of the thing, the shape of the hole that it makes in space, but we can't talk about the thing itself. This, of course, is familiar to fans of the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mind, or Marshall McLuhan. We can only discuss things with other people when we can be reasonably sure that we share similar concepts about those things. Otherwise, it's all just meaningless words.

This, incidentally, is deeply related to what Avalokita is talking about in the Heart Sutra when he identifies mental formations as being undifferentiable from emptiness. There's a lack of intrinsic nature to the things we talk about, because we're never doing anything but beating around the bush.

To reach for some cliche' for a moment, mindfulness is being fully present in the now, realizing without consideration that the now is all that there is. Of course, that really only means anything if you have shared the experience of being truly mindful of something - in which case, discussion is unwarranted. :)
Posted on Mar. 19th, 2005 05:10 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

[info]ladyarian

Re: mindfullness

Ah. I clicked on the first link, and in the description of the book found the phrase "fully present in our lives." That was what I was speaking of. When we are fully present in any activity (including knitting), then it is a form of meditation, no matter what it is. Good information for this non-contemplative non-Eastern spirit. :)

But then, you are on a more contemplative path than I, so this is probably something you've already grasped quite firmly. :)
Posted on Mar. 21st, 2005 12:42 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply