Unison of Life

Canto Twelve: Mindfulness

Half-way, between the beginning of time
and the end of eternity –
– Each moment
When we are mindful for a flicker of thought
and that is all it is – without language
– as we witness our lives
our inspirations... following our breaths... now.

This mindful, repetitive moment is the total of our life –
we are conscious and aware of our reality
as we construct our memories –
that dusty storage bin of our consciousness
which gradually softens and becomes a
gentle, down mattress, a cozy cloud.

As on a beach we, one handful at a time,
build a castle of sand however unimposing.
We experience in this fleeting, flicker of time
all our dreams, memories, fears – buddhahood
– yes, and our fantasies and imperatives.

We see the parts of these in stages and impulses
as these accumulate into priorities and concepts.
“First I will get up, then get a drink of water.”
“Then I will walk to my room, and lie down for a rest.”
As with the five progressive stages
of stepping in mindful, walking meditation.

When our impulses are simple and pure
our clean actions come rapidly, as chaste
as a kitten playing with a ball.
We see – but usually as a retrospective –
that our lives are already right and interesting.

This mindfulness of and compassion for ourselves
develops together by these same progressive stages,
Yet notice how these thoughts come too fast to contain “I or mine.”
Instead, that is a meta-place, a reference point
not a place in the moment of time.

“I and mine” are judgments in a meta-language
that describe the flicker of time we perceive
in the same way that all people perceive
Even when they are least aware of this unison of life.
October 29, 2010; Pullman, WA

Bits and Pieces

Stop, stop, no need to speak!
My Law is wonderful and difficult to ponder.
Those who are overbearingly arrogant
When they hear it, will never show reverent belief.

Dynamic Meditation, to physically dramatize thoughts,
is taught by the Osho community--
Step One: Deep fast chaotic breathing for up to ten minutes;
Step two: Playfully act out all your madness or anger;
Step Three: Jump straight up and down for five minutes or so, and shout ‘Hoo!’
Step Four: Stop, freeze exactly as you are in an extended vertical position;
Step Five: Celebrate and rejoice through dance. (Active Meditation)

Here is proof that we can all live a better life:
In Nargajuna’s Examination of the Four Noble Truths,
he succinctly explains the message of Buddha’s lesson
about the abstract nature of suffering:
“If suffering had an essence,
Its cessation would not exist.
So if an essence is posited,
One denies cessation.” (Nargajuna, pg. 70)

So the conclusion is -- that suffering is "empty,"
an optional or unnecessary experience.

Far more Western people experience Yoga, and embrace part of those teachings than engage in buddhism. But what is the difference?

Yoga is not a theoretical system but a practical one,
in which the practice must lead to an end result:
a new way of looking at the world…”
and includes the following
(and if it doesn not include all of these aspects,
it is a shallow, superficial exercise routine...)

“(Ethical and spiritual practices)
1. Yama (self-restraint)
2. Niyama (personal observances);

(Physical Practices)
3. Asana (physical training)
4. Pranayama (breath control);

(Meditation Practices)
5. Pratyahara (withdrawing the senses)
6. Dharana (Concentration)
7. Dhayana (meditation)
8. Samadhi (absorption).” (Forstater, pp, 58-71)
(Compare to The Eight-fold Path.)
There is a popular symbol of a multiple armed dancer,
that symbolism is a frequent feature of Indian and yoga iconography.
Rational Buddhists can certainly embrace the goal
of changing an individual’s perspective on the world,
and benefit from the practices and discipline taught by Yoga...

But Buddha’s perspective on the world,
once he experienced enlightenment, sounds quite different;
the Buddha said: “...The other extreme to be avoided
is devotion to ascetic practices that punish the body.
This is nothing but empty suffering
and does nothing for the sake
of attaining the ideal of enlightenment.” (Mizuno, pg. 32)

Can Enlightenment be the result of progress in former lives?
— who knows and does it matter?
– but for sure in this life
– as a result of cleansing, virtuous living,
calm meditation, showing compassion and faith
all this makes life important and worth living and sharing.
“The brilliance of his [her] wisdom
will be like the shining of the sun;
Even in his [her] dreams
he [she] will see only wonderful things.” (Watson, pg. 210)

I have no wings, yet
I fly across the ocean
An albatross, a gull. (IHJ, 18/5/09) Written in route to Thailand.

My Pain talks to me
About growing old, slowly
But I ignore it. (IHJ, 18/5/09)

Perhaps, if we wish to loose weight, for example,
we have to learn to gain our comfort from other than eating.
Sit well rooted
In the tree’s shade daily
Birds- sing nirvana. (IJ, 2007)

There is one idea
That dwells in my mind each day
Happiness to all.

Everyone has the key to happiness…
you just have to choose the right lock.

You can’t have rosy thoughts about the future
when your mind is full of blues about the past. (wellpage.com)

This is a special day if you make (or listen to) music!

Samahito names a flower
When our colorful clothing shines
as the gleam in our eyes. (IJ 2007)

We cannot direct the wind,
but we can adjust our sails.

Spreading happiness is like painting…
you can’t help but get a few drops on yourself.

Life is the greatest bargain,
we get it for nothing.

The seeds of happiness are free,
so plant them often. (wellpage.com)


One image of a person is their shadow
except at noon it is emptiness
then at night it is fullness. IHJ

Thich Nhat Hanh once wrote:
‘If you are a poet,
you will see that there is a cloud
in this sheet of paper.
Without a cloud, there will be no rain;
without rain, the trees cannot grow;
and without trees, we cannot make paper’.” (Chan, pg. 119)
(This chain of causality is what we see as anatta.)

“Waking up this morning, I smile.
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment
And to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.” (Hanh, pg. 102)


“May the merit of this action
be shared by all beings everywhere,
so that they may come to the end of suffering.”

I Work More Than I Can Bear

Suan Mokkh: The Garden of Liberation

by Buddhadasa bhikkhu

I work more than I can bear, but

am happy hearted enough to leap and dance.

This is because my mind thinks and aims

only to live in line with the Dhamma,

Wherever the causes and conditions lead,

according to the karma I laid down in former moments.

To die is like a pause from work,

to sleep for a night, to rest for a time;

With the new dawn, I take up the work

vigorously carrying on the work left over from before.

The new day is a new birth, these two are the same:

born with the day and dying at night,

As the waves of the samsaric cycles create

the myriad products that soothe and comfort our hearts.

Whoever wishes for joy and bliss must know

that it depends on the one who can see joy for himself.

As for me, there is no meaning beyond

the fact that I was born only to work

According to conditions, so that myself and others

will know the world, conquer it, and vanquish sorrow.

Nature created us perfectly, physically and mentally

thriving — boundless thanks to Nature!

Although we are created for birth, decay, and death,

yet Nature gives me the chance to vie

Struggle, and contend in all duties to break ahead

in order to reach the end before anyone else.

While friends encourage each other to lie around,

I am working hard as if they were chasing behind.

The duties of life that besiege constantly

are like debts ever piling up on top of me

Blocking my way almost like a whirlpool,

when will I pass beyond and find the place of freedom and peace?

From here to Nibbana we must pass through

the checkpoint which is the work of our lives

This Law is more certain than any scales;

no matter how skilled, no one can escape this rule.

For this reason, in any activity that

aims for the benefit of others or oneself

We should hurry, struggle, and strive

to make it beautiful and work off our debt to Nature.

Until the heart’s attachments to all things

weaken, dissolve, and fade away

So that wisdom sees directly that greed, anger,

and delusion are finished and samsara stopped.

Hurry friends, don't be late!

Whatever work you may meet, tackle it immediately.

Much work may bring a faster death,

but it rolls along towards the final rest, just the same.


"Sirivayasa"
13 February 1938

[translated by santikaro bhikkhu]
The Teacher: Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Tan Ajarn -- Buddhadasa Bhikkhu founded Suan Mokkh after giving up on the monastic system in Bangkok. He found the Wats (temples) there dirty, crowded, and corrupt, nothing like the purer, more simple Buddhism of his birthplace. Thus, returned to the South and moved into an abandoned temple near his hometown. At first living alone, then with others as news of his experiment spread, he took a radical look into the sources of Theravada Buddhism and dedicated his life to following the pristine Dhamma and correcting the numerous mistaken beliefs and practices that had crept in over the centuries. Some hated him, others loved him. Why not see what he has to offer?

Meditation - Tapas

Would it be possible to write a poem
about the contents of meditation in the mind?
Would it be like describing the contents
of a hole in the ground by identifying its width and depth?
Can you cast light on the contents of the hole
by describing the rough walls or loose dirt at the bottom?
Is this the goal of meditation to empty the mind
like digging a hole and then becoming its content?
Does the very attempt to describe the result
or content of meditation fall into a pit of sacrilege?
Am I stepping into a novice trap or trying to theorize
about a process so diverse and each time different?
Have you read many different approaches where each,
curiously, describes the outcome differently?
Is there a common thread that can be identified
contained in the result of all forms of meditation?
Or are there private experiences characterized as similar,
interrelated, based on intention and imperfect results?
If the search for understanding using meditation
takes us to an ascetic isolation, what have we gained?
Is this passing the test or simply leaving the classroom
and disrespecting the teacher?
Does the virtue of meditation lie in “getting off the wheel”
of recurring lives, eliminating karma?
Like emptying ones loose bowels, spread-eagle over a smelly toilet
in a fast moving train in Asia?
Is it necessary to accept the concept of other lives, or a god
in order to profit by meditation?
Can writing poetry, no matter how humble as this,
be a successful or even “perfect” meditation?
Does the content of this poetic form of meditation,
the verses I have created, for example,
So simple and void of content, holding no answers
release the mind from its trap just as well?
Does this poem help us connect to our hearts?
I hope so.

I.J. Hall December 25, 2003

This poem as well as the previous poem, Bon di, are taken from my book, Bodhicitta: Higher Truth, which is available as an e-file download free for the asking. It is considered an advanced book on Buddhist practice.

Bon Di

The Beaver Pond has never been so clear.
The transparent water shows the truth
That lies there on the bottom revealing
Like a moment of inspiration and creativity
Those furtive verities that sometimes come,
Flashes of light between relaxed breaths.

The soft greens of the healthy plants below
Blanket the dormant fish, frogs and salamanders
Kindly, protected from the freezing night air
That has dulled the former brilliance of leaves
Turning the alder brown, the cottonwood yellow,

Turning the long summer to the Advent of Winter.

This clarity mimics my nascent insight
As I see my emotions dormant but healthy.
My Spirit frolics with the ducks on this purity
Ducking their heads, splashing as I would,
Then swimming down under water, happily
Flapping their wings across the glassy surface
Before they return to the shore for more corn.

The merganser who visited yesterday has gone,
His services were unclaimed. Even after
Swimming heroically back and forth chattering
He remained resolutely alone, estranged
Singing his un-welcomed poetic verses.
He departed unnoticed, taking with him
His handsome, majestic plumage
Unappreciated except by me, who he feared.

My life is just this simple and this complex.
As I sit akimbo on the low, solitary, post seat
A kingfisher arrives and complains loudly
Asserting his right to this sacred territory.
I will have to leave for my meager lunch
So he can find his breakfast, undisturbed.
I return, enlightened, home;
in this small way blessed by nature.

Bon Di

I.J. Hall, November 13, 2003

Canto Eleven: Right Effort -- See the world as it is...

How free is our will
if we have not the power to execute it
in the way we at our best would wish?
Do we see the world as it really is?

Each breath we cycle in and out,
Each beat of our hearts is automatic
not related to our will or effort.
Do we see the world as it really is?

Each step we take exercises our will
even if we are unaware of it
And we learn from our breath when we meditate
and slow our hearts, listening to
the ancient refrain of our pulse.
Now we see the world as it really is!

When we control our diet and exercise
to have a healthy heart we bless
our lives and celebrate our connection to humanity.
Then we see the world as it really is.

When we pause and choose to notice
the simple rotation of Earth
we celebrate the mystery of our existence,
watching as we fall into rising Sun
and fly away from the Sunset.
Then we see the world as it really is.

When we choose to improve our minds
by studying the Sciences and literature,
History will teach us lessons to avoid suffering.
If we see the world as it really is.

And we can teach all mankind if
we make the effort to share merit
and not repeat the errors of the past.
Practice makes perfection
When we see the world as it really is.

It takes very little effort to win
if we are judicious, mindful,
consistent, careful and repetitive.
As long as we see the world as it really is!
April 17, 2009; Pullman, WA

Canto Eight: Right Speech – Vacisucarita

It is so easy to hear the voice of others
and conceive motive, intent, judgment
And inevitably at times, to react like someone
put a pitchfork into the dung heap of our memories,
the noxious fumes come from this residue
more than from the content of what has been said.
But this too can change.
How difficult is it for some to speak kindly and softly
especially after the above, or just anytime?
Are we incapable or just unwilling to perceive our own speech
in the same terms as what we hear?
We proceed grumbling against the walls of our cages.
But this too can change.
This defect is not the essence of whom we are.
There is no evil soul lurking inside our bodies
creating negative speech patterns for us.
We can become the fount of joy for others and ourselves.
When our best intentions to speak correctly fail us,
is this when we have lost sight of compassion?
But this too can change.
So our deliberate and conscious practice might be --
beginning with someone with whom we are intimately involved--
Let every idle pause in the conversation
be a moment of meditation about this compassion.
Focus a few breaths on a “Nimitta” of discernment.
Repeat the secret word “vacisucarita”
which means good conduct in speech.
No false – harsh – malicious – nor idle speech.
Let us speak these words from our physical organs
so they resonate twice, from our heart to our ears.
We sense this entirely unlike touch
the sound travels with our breath as we exhale.
The breath of life uses the same pathway as speech
thus this chanting unites in a special meditation
the most sacred and active force of life.
If we contaminate our breath pathway with harsh,
libelous or indiscriminate speech
We violate one of the most basic Precepts.
But this too can change.
How long will it take that pathway to return to wholeness?
Instead – whenever kind words are spoken
according to the teachings of Dharma
we make merit and amplify the volume of our Hearts. ~

I.J. Hall; March 17, 2009; Lolo, MT