As promised yesterday,
let’s revisit the “Extensive Prayer of Refuge and Bodhichitta”:
in the possibility of Buddha’s liberation…”
“Possibility?” you could ask,
“Possibility? Why not certitude?
Wouldn’t that be stronger and
consequentially more beneficial?”
And now we come to that which,
spiritually speaking,
separates the men from the boys.
I’m big Bill Maher fan, how about you?
His recent movie, “Religulous” lampoons the absurdity of fundamentalism.
But fundamentalism is NOT exclusive to Christianity.
It’s dogmatic rigidity has crept into every sect of EVERY religion.
It is a great Liability.
On a deep {often unconscious level} folks tend to grasp on to the
rigidity of certitude as a short-cut or a cheat to remedy fear.
Oh sure, that sounds good in writing, but it could fail in practice.
Why? Why could faith be a poor solution to the problem of fear?
Because it's rigidity of mind and emotion is, in itself, a manifestation of fear, so
rather then defeat fear, in the long run it could simply strengthen it.
Fueled by fear {ironically the very thing it intends to overcome} faith or
belief strives to create a rigidity of mind and emotion.
Unlike it’s opposite – possibility, certitude does NOT create the flexibility that
leads to:
• creativity,
• resourcefulness and
• adaptability
but instead creates the rigidity that leads to aggression and suffering.
“But aren’t faith, belief and certitude intended to protect us from the
slings and arrows of outrageous fortune?” you could ask.
And therein lies one of it’s darkest ironies.
IF contriving thoughts and emotions could require substantial amounts of energy,
THEN what could happen to those ideas and emotions we call faith when
our energy waivers?
They could collapse like a house of cards.
How ironically tragic that the
faith that we hoped would protect us could consistently
fail us just when we need it the most!
“Well that’s pretty dark!
Do you have a solution for us?”
Yeah, sure, you bet’cha!
Where fearful petulance creates rigid faith that
concerns itself with probability;
joyful playfulness works with desire and possibility
which is infinitely more flexible.
Come, let us journey to the realm of the practical.
Angry Bear!
Imagine an angry bear was chasing you through the
woods, bent on your destruction.
In the face of that real, immanent danger everyone could
experience the same physiological reactions that
could make rational thought, no less emotional contrivance,
utterly impossible.
But even in that dire circumstance one could still
long for both:
#1 safety and
#2 escape
from the approaching fangs and claws of death.
That desire, could NOT concern itself with the probability of escape but
would rather take comfort in it’s mere possibility.
Enter the world of Martial arts.
All things being equal, it’s the most mentally:
• flexible,
• resilient,
• adaptable and
• playful
pugilist that wins.
When it comes to rigidity of expectation versus the
flexibility of adaptation who
could forget this classic scene from “Enter the Dragon”?
Come, let us put things in perspective.
Let us compare ALL spiritual systems with the simile of the Bull’s eye.
The outer ring, common to all religions is devotion.
The second ring, found in many religions is love.
The third ring, found in some contemplative traditions is awareness.
The fourth, innermost ring, taught by Buddha is the science and art of Letting-go.
Awareness can only serve us upon the path to enlightenment if
it is married to the practice of Letting-go.
Likewise love and devotion, must also be blended with
wisdom’s momentum of letting-go.
In all humility our sense organs and mind can “KNOW” very little.
Do I know the earth is spherical?
No, but I like the idea.
Do I know George Washington was the father of our nation?
No, but I like the idea.
Do I know that Christ walked the earth?
No, but I like the idea of a Kick-ass Jew!
Do I know Buddha lived, no less accomplished full enlightenment?
No, but I find the possibility to be very empowering!
On the Bodhisattva’s path to enlightenment there are 10 levels {or Bhumis}, with
the 10th level being full enlightenment.
There can be NO enlightenment without the
mastery of Buddha’s yogas of Letting-go.
But the dogmatic rigidity of fundamentalism actually prevents folks from
accomplishing that brave degree of letting-go.
Yep, rigidity and letting-go are mutually exclusive, you
can have one but NOT the other.
Therefore there is infinitely more power in possibility then
there can ever be in certainty.
Faith, belief and certainty are mental and emotional contrivances.
It requires energy to force ourselves to feel or think a certain way.
So, when the energy wanes, the contrivance crumbles.
Our energy wanes when we are in emotional or physical distress.
The sad conclusion is,
it’s when we need faith the most, that
it’s not there for us.
Therefore what is required is a more empowered way of
relating to our higher power;
whatever label we slap on it, be it:
• the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
• Jesus Christ,
• Allah,
• Shiva,
• Tao or
• Buddha.
So let’s swap out the rigidity of certainty for
the flexibility, resourcefulness and freedom of possibility and desire.
Tomorrow we could revisit what the
liberation is that Buddha offers us.
May you and yours be
happy and healthy!
Om Mani Padme Hum,
NON-sectarian Buddhist: Monk, Teacher, Healer and Tantrika
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