The Buddha, The Dharma, The Sangha

"Spiritual powers and their wondrous functioning--hauling water and carrying firewood." --Layman Pang, upon his realization

Monday, June 22, 2009

So what is meditation all about?  Actually, meditation begins with a true aspiration to just let go of everything.  Remember that the definition of Dharma, the purpose of following the spiritual path, is non-attachment.  There is a line in Buddhist literature:

There WAS no attachment.
There IS no attachment.
There WILL BE no attachment.

Seen from this view, meditation is very profound and yet very simple.

Have you ever ridden a bicycle?  The bicycle does not run on its own.  The bicycle only runs when somebody is pedaling it.  The moment we stop pedaling the bicycle, it falls over.  Un-enlightened consciousness works in the same way.  It doesn't perpetuate itself.  The moment we stop perpetuating it, it dies.  Like everything else, it dies on its own.  Meditation is not so much like doing something or going somewhere or acquiring this and that. Meditation is actually a way to stop feeding this unenlightened consciousness.

When we sit in silence, being in the present moment, what happens?  Nothing happens.  But sometimes there is a moment so liberating, so illuminating, that everything is gone.  The self is gone.  All of the story lines are gone and universal oneness is dancing in front of us.

--from No Self, So Problem by Anam Thubten

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love this. I read this a few days ago and almost forwarded it to you, then realized you had probably already read it. I thought you might like it. :-)

E