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object:Big Mind (ten perfections)
--- The Ten Perfections of Excellence
--- Generosity
FACILITATOR: May I speak now to the voice of Generosity?
GENEROSITY: All right, I'm the voice of Generosity.
FACILITATOR: Tell me about yourself.
GENEROSITY: I'm just generous because I find joy in giving. I come from a place of openness and transcendent action, I am all about letting go, surrendering. I am not about holding on, or trying to secure something. There's nothing that brings him more happiness and fulfillment than being generous, giving his life to and for the sake of others. It's kind of like a garden hose. If both the spigot and the nozzle are closed, the water doesn't flow and the garden hose has just got what it's got. If it's got water in it, it's got that much. No more is going in, no more is flowing out. However, if you open both the spigot and the nozzle, it's a never-ending flow. That's like me, Generosity.
The more I give and the more I allow myself to offer, to serve, the more the source continues to flow through me. I become more like a conduit than like a bucket. A bucket you can only fill so much and then it starts overflowing, because it's limited, it's full to its capacity. I think a lot of people go around like buckets. You know, they get filled with so much and then even a little more puts them over the edge, and they can't handle it. With a hose, the flow is never too much. As long as the nozzle is wide open, all the water and pressure that comes in just streams out. So it becomes a continuous flow of that which is beyond the self.
I see that each of us is just a vessel, or you can say a conduit, or a vehicle, for that source, for that energy, for that which is greater than the self, whatever we want to call it. We can call it God, we can call it the Creator, we can call it energy, we can call it
Buddha, Dharma - there are so many names we can use for it. But when we allow ourselves to give freely and to be really generous, life is so fulfilling. There's nothing more fulfilling than just being an open conduit, just letting the source flow through.
FACILITATOR: As Generosity, how do you feel when your generosity is not appreciated?
GENEROSITY: The amazing thing is that I cannot dictate what others do with my generosity, I can't have any expectations. If I want the poor, homeless person who is asking me for a few bucks to go buy food with the five or ten dollars I give him, of course I could be disappointed, because he's probably going to buy a bottle of wine.
At the same time, I don't need to judge him and I don't need to dictate what he does with my gift.
It's the same with the teaching. I cannot and do not have any expectations or strings attached to what people do with the teachings. Years ago I did. Up to about 1999, I think I really wanted people to use whatever teaching Genpo gave them to further and deepen their practice, to become clearer, to train harder, to sit more, to do better. That was frustrating, it finally ended up with Genpo's burnout in 1994. I don't think he got all the way through that burnout until 1999 with his discovery of the Big Mind process, but even so he found himself attached to his hope and expectation that people really get the process, one hundred percent. It took a few more years before he truly was able to let that go and not care. Since then the process has been far more successful.
Now I just give it away. What people do with it is up to them. It's a gift. They can trash it, they can use it, maybe in another lifetime, maybe this lifetime. They can appreciate it or they can reject it. When he first started doing Big Mind, he wanted people at least to appreciate it. I remember that if there were a hundred people in the room, and maybe five people went away not feeling they really got it, then of course he was disappointed, and they were disappointed. That's pretty good, ninety-five percent, that's not bad, right?
Now I notice close to a hundred percent are getting it, and I think the difference is this not caring. That's what I see. Sometimes he even says it in the beginning of a workshop, "You know, I really don't care whether you get anything out of this or not.
I'm just here to have fun with you. I hope you have fun, but if you don't, that's OK.
You know, it's a play, enjoy yourself. I think there's nothing more exciting than discovering who you are." They don't have to appreciate it, I give it freely. There are no strings attached. What they want to do with it, that's entirely up to them.
Now I remember one great master, his name was Yamada Roshi. Genpo spent some time with him just before he died, in his eighties. One day Yamada Roshi told him,
"You know it wasn't till my seventies that I really got to the place where I didn't care about what people thought of me, or expected of me, or how they saw me. What a liberation! There's nothing like it." But, he said, "until I was seventy or so, I still cared. I still cared how people saw me, what they thought of me, how they appreciated me or didn't. I cared. What a relief when I no longer cared."
That's so important. I call it 'not caring.' I know that sounds kind of negative, however it's really not having any strings attached to what we give or what we offer.
Say we give our children money, and they go out and buy candy. All right, that's what they do. If we want them to buy something else, well then give them that, instead of giving them the money, because once you give it away, you've given it away. Let it go, and that will save you so much pain and grief.
FACILITATOR: Is it necessary to get to age seventy or to the point of burnout to realize this?
GENEROSITY: Genpo had to go through a lot of these things the hard way. He's not a quick learner. He learns best intuitively, and by going through things. We all have different ways of learning. There's an old teaching about horses: one kind of horse is really superior, it just catches sight of the whip and it runs. A horse that's not as bright, you have to actually whip, and one who is really thick, you have to whip right to the marrow. That's Genpo. I think he's the kind that had to be beaten to the core.
FACILITATOR: Where were you as Generosity while Genpo was grudging, or having expectations?
GENEROSITY: I was there and it was generosity, but he still had strings attached. I think there can be different kinds of generosity. There can be freely giving, and there can be giving with an expectation, and that expectation could be just to be appreciated. In other words, if it's really freely given, then no one even has to know who gave it.
There doesn't have to be any hope of gratitude or appreciation for what you've given.
Wanting people to be grateful, or to appreciate, or to return the gift, is not freely giving in the fullest sense of the word. It's somehow giving, but still holding on to the gift, or to what you get back in return.
There's a saying in the Bible about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. We also have a saying in Zen that to give the gift of no fear is the greatest gift.
To me, that's the gift of Big Mind, because in Big Mind there's absolutely no fear. It's only when all boundaries have dissolved, or been transcended, that there's no fear, and that is the greatest gift.
That ability to not care, to be detached from expectations, is another gift from Big
Mind. I think in our society we're very concerned about how little we care, how selfish and greedy we are, and we realize that we need to care more, we need to have more compassion, we need to have more empathy, we need all that. But what we don't see is the other side of the coin: in some ways we care too much, or we could say we are too attached, and that keeps us from being really free, happy and joyful. If we were free, happy and joyful, everything would flow better, our lives and the whole world.
Can you imagine a world where everybody was free, happy and joyful, where everybody came from a place of generosity and giving freely without any strings attached? Can you just imagine this world? It's almost impossible to imagine, it would be such a different place.
Well, that's our work. That's what we're here to do. That's what this book's about.
If enough of us can get to that level of consciousness, I believe the whole planet, would be transformed. I don't know what that percentage is - Ken Wilber says about ten percent. I do believe there is a point, a turning point, and when we reach it worldwide the whole planet will shift its consciousness. That's what we're here to do, and I think we're all in this together. Nobody escapes, we're all in the same boat, we're all on the same planet. It's a global affair. We either make it, or we break it.
There's an old Zen saying, it's a koan, a beautiful koan, one of my favorites. It's about a buffalo that passes through a window, and the koan goes like this: 'A buffalo with its head, horns and four legs all pass through a lattice window. Why is it that its tail gets stuck?'
I think it's one of the most fantastic koans, because it communicates the essence of the whole teaching. In this koan, the head, our conceptual mind, passes through this barrier. The horns, our dualistic mind, also pass through. In other words we reach the non-dual. Now, if the head, four legs and all our ideas and notions are dropped off, why does the tail get stuck, when the tail is so thin and the buffalo so huge? The answer has to do with two things, it always has to do with these two sides of the one reality, the non-dual and the dual, the absolute and the relative.
From the absolute side, of course, what window is there to pass through? From Big
Mind there is nothing to pass through and no one to go through it. There's no window, there's no buffalo, there's no self, there's no me, there's no you, there's nothing to pass through, there's no gate. From the absolute, it's gateless.
From the relative side, that tail is all of us on this planet, every sentient being on this planet, and until every sentient being reaches that state we're talking about, where one is free, happy and joyful and truly generous, there's no liberation. We can't go through. That is what they call in Zen the Bodhisattva vow. I vow to liberate all sentient beings, every last sentient being, before I go through myself. It just naturally arises if we clearly see our situation. It's no great mystery. We're all in this together, it's one mind, one body.
FACILITATOR: It sounds like a far cry from not caring.
GENEROSITY: I think it's the counterbalance. The more I don't care, the more I can care, the more I can give. The more detached I am, the more attached to the liberation of all beings I can be. How could I handle the enormity of the responsibility if I cared too much? You know, I would be limited by my very caring. In other words, when I manifest not caring, I can fully and truly care. So I don't see that as a 'far cry.' I see them as absolutely one.
That's the interplay of Big Mind and Big Heart right there. Big Mind doesn't care.
It's completely indifferent. Everything is just as it is, perfect, complete, whole. Big
Heart cares about the smallest insect, it simply loves and feels everything, for everyone equally.
FACILITATOR: May I go back and speak to the True Self once again?
TRUE SELF: OK. I'm speaking.
FACILITATOR: I'd like to look at the characteristics of wise or appropriate action. I need some help here. What voice do you suggest I speak to?
--- Wise or Appropriate Action
TRUE SELF: You can use the triangle again in order to speak to three seemingly distinctively different views of our actions, which Buddhists call the Three Vehicles: the Hinaya, Buddhayana, and Mahayana. These three vehicles, or views, manifest as one free and integrated, unfixed way of living our life.
I'd suggest that you start with the Literal Mind. Then speak to Big Mind. Then you can return to me, as the apex of the triangle: Wise or Appropriate Action.
--- Literal Mind
FACILITATOR: Then may I speak first to the Literal Mind?
LITERAL MIND: All right. You're speaking to the Literal Mind.
FACILITATOR: Tell me about you.
LITERAL MIND: Well, first of all people sometimes think of me as narrow, or limited, and I don't like those terms as they refer to me. I feel that I take things at face value. I see things in a more straightforward way, a fundamental, orthodox way. I have a valid perspective, in fact I think it's the most honest perspective. If you want to go deep, sometimes you have to dig a narrow hole. You go too broad, you'll have a much harder time getting to the bottom. For example, I know that it is wrong, absolutely wrong, to kill, or to take another life, whether it be a human life or the life of a mosquito. I see that as true, literally true. From my perspective all life is sacred. All life is an extension of my life, and this applies to the life of a whale, or an elephant, or even to the life of an insect. I take this very seriously, that I should not do harm or injure or kill anything. I pay attention to appreciating and supporting all life, from human beings all the way to insects.
I don't steal. I don't take anything that is not given or sold to me, not even so much as a bar of soap. I don't engage in sexual misconduct, or act in a greedy way. I speak what is true, and I do not lie. I do not get intoxicated. I don't speak about others' errors and faults. I neither elevate myself nor blame others. I am not stingy, especially with the Teachings. I do not hate, and I don't allow myself to indulge in anger. I do not speak ill of my teachers, their teachings, and the community.
What is so narrow-minded about me? I follow rules and codes of behavior, and I do my very best not to break them. I believe in the law, both man-made laws, and also the
Law of Cause and Effect. I practice doing unto others as I would have them do unto me. I also offer him a lot of confidence and power, and the support of clear boundaries and limits. As far as I'm concerned, this is the way to be both ethical and moral. What is so bad about that?
FACILITATOR: You seem a little defensive. May I speak to another voice, please, if you don't mind?
LITERAL MIND: All right, but I don't think I'm being defensive. I don't feel defensive at all, but you can go ahead.
--- Big Mind
FACILITATOR: I would like to speak to Big Mind.
BIG MIND: I'm Big Mind.
FACILITATOR: Well how do you see what the Literal Mind was just saying?
BIG MIND: I see things from a different perspective than the Literal Mind. I see that there is nothing that could be hurt or harmed or killed, that it's all a manifestation of
Big Mind, of me. There is no one to do the harming or killing or to speak ill of others or to blame, and there is no one to be harmed or killed or to be blamed. There is no subject/object, and for me, even to raise the thought that there is another would be a kind of delusion. There is no other. There's only this, it is all One Mind. There's no separation, no distance between one thing and another. It's all one.
FACILITATOR: All right, well may I speak to a third voice?
BIG MIND: OK.
--- Wise or Appropriate Action
FACILITATOR: Now I would like to speak to the voice that includes both the Literal and the Big Mind perspective, and transcends them both. So it includes and embraces them, but goes beyond them - the apex of the triangle.
WISE OR APPROPRIATE ACTION: OK, I am that voice.
FACILITATOR: Would you tell me about you?
WISE OR APPROPRIATE ACTION: Well, obviously I embrace the Literal and the Big
Mind perspectives. My actions are wise and appropriate. They are in harmony with his position at any given moment, according to time, place and amount. What is appropriate depends on the situation, and changes as the situation changes. His position is always changing. Sometimes he is in the role of teacher, sometimes he is a student. Sometimes he is in the position of being a father, sometimes in the position of being a son. He can find himself in the position of an employee, answering to his board of directors, or as the president dealing with employees working for him. His position is constantly changing with the time, place and situation.
Appropriate action depends also on time. An action that is wise and appropriate at one moment may prove to be inappropriate the next moment. The same is true of place. What is appropriate in one place would not be appropriate in another. The appropriate degree or amount also determines whether an action is wise or not. The duration can either be too much or too little. For example, when he is giving a talk, if he goes on and on and on, even in the right place to the right people, at the right time, it becomes too much. The same is true of an inadequate amount. If he doesn't take, or is not given the right amount of time, his talk becomes inappropriate.
As Wise Action I see that one should not kill, or lie, or steal, or be stingy or greedy, and at the same time I see that everything is empty. There is no one to be harmed and no one to kill, no one to lie or to steal. Those ethical rules come from dualistic thinking, and in my view there is no dualism. I have a non-dual approach. At the same time, I can see the dualistic perspective. I see both the dual and the non-dual and I'm fixated on neither one nor the other. I'm not attached to either one.
So, I do what is most appropriate. In any given situation I respond in the most appropriate and best way. That response comes out of my wisdom, clarity and compassion toward all beings. All life is a manifestation of the One Mind, so I appreciate all life as me. There may be a time when I actually do kill, for example, a mosquito, and yet when I'm sitting outside it would be endless, so I don't even try. If there's one flying above my head in bed at night I might kill it. Generally, of course the most ethical thing would be to do no harm. But there may be an occasion, and it's probably more the exception than the rule, that I would do harm for the greater good, or for the greater cause, the greater reason.
So I might say something seemingly negative about someone or might appear to be greedy or stingy at times, if that were the right thing to do in that moment, the most appropriate thing. I see that everything is relative, that my position or role in a situation, the time, the place, and how much or how little I do, make my response either appropriate or inappropriate. The only guideline for this is my own best judgment, based on the wisdom I have from Big Mind and the compassion coming from a literal understanding of not doing harm, not creating suffering.
I appreciate and respect others' possessions and property. I give freely and generously. I don't act self-centeredly or egotistically. I am truthful unless the circumstances are such that it is more appropriate for me not to be. I am sober, attentive and mindful, and I don't allow myself to get too intoxicated by alcohol, or my own ideas or notions. I refrain from talking about others' errors or faults, and I find ways to be kind and considerate in speech toward others. I don't elevate myself and blame others. I don't put others down in order to build myself up. I am simply generous and nice to others. I do not find fault, and I take full responsibility for action and reaction, for cause and effect. I am generous and giving. I am joyful, friendly and compassionate toward others.
FACILITATOR: Do you ever have doubts about your past actions, and think that after all they may not have been the best course?
WISE OR APPROPRIATE ACTION: Sure. Because what's right or wrong does change according to the situation, according to time and place, and as time moves on what was right one moment may not appear to be right in the future, or what was right in the past may not seem to have been the best decision now, and the best decision now may not be the best decision in the future. It goes back and forth, but I don't know if it does a lot of good to dwell on that. You know, you make the best decision you can as you go along, given the tools you have to work with. I think we have to be as true to that as we can be, and be willing to suffer the consequences, the karmic consequences, when our choices are not the best. But all we can do is work with what we've got.
I think that a lot of religions teach shoulds and should nots, dos and don'ts, out of fear. I have never found that this serves the greater purpose. It's OK in the short term, but in a way it just produces a lot of rigidity and a lot of fear in people. A much more mature way is encouraging each individual to take full responsibility for cause and effect, for action and reaction, for consequences. So the responsibility is thrown back on each individual to make the wisest and most compassionate choices given their own wisdom and compassion. Shoulds and should nots really bind us - 'I should be this, I shouldn't be that, I should do this, I shouldn't do that.' Dropping all that is complete liberation. Wise and appropriate action is who I am
FACILITATOR: No guarantees?
WISE OR APPROPRIATE ACTION: I think there are no guarantees. You have to be willing to take risks and be courageous and just go on. There are no guarantees in life, no insurance that covers our choices.
--- Perseverance or Right Effort
FACILITATOR: May I speak to another voice?
WISE OR APPROPRIATE ACTION: Yes you may.
FACILITATOR: May I speak to the voice that perseveres?
PERSEVERANCE: I am Perseverance. I persevere. I know that this is an endless process and I also realize that it is easy to get stuck anywhere along the way. Progress can be slow and circle back on itself, but it's more like a spiral, there is progress. So anywhere I am on this circle or spiral is perfect, as long as I don't remain stuck there. I think the beauty of the Big Mind work is that it allows us to learn how to free the mind and unstick from wherever we get stuck.
So my job is to continue to persevere. There is always more to accomplish, more to aspire to, more to clarify, to deepen, more that we can appreciate and be grateful for.
We can always be nicer and kinder, more loving and more compassionate. There's no end to this process, and I'm the one who continues, who keeps going, moves on.
Back in 1971 he was going to call his first book, To Walk On. He hasn't written that one yet, but somehow he really liked the title, because right from the beginning he saw that perseverance was what was necessary. To keep going, not to dilly-dally or to remain in any one place too long. But he has gotten stuck - sometimes as long as thirty, thirty-five years in certain places - so he knows it's easy to say and it's hard to do.
In 1997 he saw that he had been stuck since 1971 in the realization that he wanted to liberate all sentient beings, which was what came up for him in that first awakening experience. That's where he got stuck. It wasn't until 1997, while staying on the island of Ameland, in the North Sea off the Netherlands, that he realized, 'I've been stuck here for something like twenty-six years!' When he realized he could drop that as a vow, it felt really liberating.
At that point he thought, 'Well maybe I'm going to stop teaching or I'm going to stop working on this.' But no, it's only deepened and gone further. It stopped being such a burden, because he'd been stuck in this vow, in this decision to give his life to this purpose. So from time to time we see places where we've been stuck for a long, long time. I am the one who perseveres, the voice of Perseverance, who sees these things and just keeps going, keeps going on.
I guess you could say that I am Right Effort - Right Effort meaning that I effort towards effortlessness. I persevere, and yet there is joy in my persevering. I'm not about pushing, I'm not about pulling. I'm about taking one step after another, kind of like the koan, "How do you step off a hundred foot pole?" I'm the one who just takes that next step, whatever that step is. Or if we say we're climbing a ladder, the moment
I lift my left foot and put it on to the next rung, my right foot right is stuck. The moment I lift that right foot up and it's unstuck, obviously I'm stuck on the left. Then when I put the left foot up, the right is stuck. It's stick, unstick, stick, unstick - constant movement - and I can't skip any rungs, so I can't leap beyond where I am. I just take the next step, I persevere.
FACILITATOR: It sounds like perseverance has something to do with letting go so you can go further.
PERSEVERANCE: Yes, I guess you could say there's no investment in the results. In other words, you just persevere for the sake of persevering. You simply keep going, and it feels like there's no effort, no trying involved. It's a continuous unfolding, or continuous flowering. It becomes truly effortless. I also have a lot to do with both the
Mind that Seeks the Way and the Follower of the Way. There's always further to accomplish, to clarify, to refine.
--- Opposite of Perseverance
FACILITATOR: Let me speak now to your opposite, the voice of the Opposite of
Perseverance. I don't want to give it a name let's just find out who it is. Let me speak to that voice.
OPPOSITE OF PERSEVERANCE: All right, you're speaking to the Opposite of
Perseverance.
FACILITATOR: Well, tell me about you.
OPPOSITE OF PERSEVERANCE: I don't see that there's any place to go. Really, there's nothing to do, there's nothing to accomplish. There's no coming or going, no standing still, and no stuckness either. It's absolutely perfect just as it is, everything is just a manifestation of me, or this, or Big Mind. I don't see any need whatsoever to persevere. There's no one to do the going, no one to arrive. There's no problem, and nothing to achieve. There's nothing to attain, no goal, and there's no not achieving the goal.
FACILITATOR: Well, now will you let me speak to the voice that both includes and transcends persevering and this Big Mind perspective?
Transcends Perseverance and the Opposite of Perseverance
TRANSCENDENT: I am the one that includes and yet transcends these two. I embrace the aspiration to continually persevere, and yet I realize that in truth there is no place to go and nothing to do. So I come from a place where everything is perfect and yet there's always further to accomplish. I come from a place where nothing is lacking and yet we can always go deeper and get clearer and do more. I see that there is nothing wrong with where we are, where things are, and they always can improve. They can always get better.
--- Patience
FACILITATOR: Please let me speak to the voice of Patience.
PATIENCE: I am Patience. First of all, I know that you can't push the river. You can't make the tree grow faster than it's going to grow. You can't make the sun rise quicker than it's going to rise. Things simply happen when they're ready to happen. We very often don't know, actually we never know what will happen. At any given moment our life can change course completely, take a detour, make a complete U-turn, and we don't know one moment before we know.
FACILITATOR: Tell me a little more about yourself.
PATIENCE: I see the bigger picture. I'm aware that transformation takes time. Even though transformation can come suddenly and immediately, it's usually preceded by lots of work. Then a shift will happen, and then there's more work of integrating and stabilizing whatever is achieved or attained. So, I'm just basically very, very patient. I look at things from a larger perspective, and I'm not uptight, I'm not in a hurry. So,
I'm patient with others, and I'm also patient with the self.
FACILITATOR: What does that look like?
PATIENCE: I give both the self and others a lot of space, knowing just how difficult life can be and how deeply rooted and strong our habitual patterns are. They're kind of like wagon wheels going through mud over and over again, mud that then dries up and solidifies. Those ruts are really deep and firm. So with negative tendencies, with addictions, with patterns, I take the long view. I don't try to force the plant to grow, I don't try to rush the sunrise, or the sunset either, for that matter.
FACILITATOR: Does patience have to do with letting go?
PATIENCE: Absolutely. As Patience I have to let go of my rush for anything, my impatience towards everything. It doesn't mean that sometimes he doesn't become impatient, but I'm the one who slows him down and reminds him things just simply take time.
I'm the mature voice of Patience. He used to hurry to achieve his goals. He used to be much more anxious about any kind of progress. But over the years I've certainly slowed him down and become much more patient both with him and with others. I'm a kind of holding on as well. I'm holding on to the aspiration to accomplish one's life, to fulfill one's life, to feel that when the day is over, one has managed to accomplish, in a patient way, the things one wants to accomplish in this life.
--- Zazen (Zen Meditation)
FACILITATOR: May I now speak to the voice of Zen Meditation, or Zazen?
ZAZEN: Yes, you're speaking to the voice of Zazen.
FACILITATOR: So, please tell me about you. Who are you?
ZAZEN: I am the truest, purest and deepest meditation, and I'm really not meditation at all. Meditation is a misnomer. To meditate means to meditate on something, and really a better name for me is "just sitting." I am the purest form of meditation because I do not have an object that I focus on, nor am I seeking anything. I have no goal and no aim. I am the truest because I am pure being, the nothing extra, the I AMness.
When I am present, the self - he - is not present. I am the Non-Seeking NonGrasping Mind. I am the mind that clings to naught, chases after nothing, and just is. I have no goals, I have no aims, I have no ambitions. I am absolutely and totally satisfied in just being. There is no place to go, nothing to gain, nothing to attain.
There's nothing lacking. There's nothing in excess. Everything is absolutely just what it is, which means beyond perfect and imperfect. It is perfect, beyond all dualities of good and bad, right and wrong, beyond all judgments. I am beyond all evaluations. I am beyond all condemnations. I am beyond, I am the state of the transcendent. I am the goal.
When he allows me to be, in other words, when he gets out of the way and stops seeking, allows me to be present, he is absolutely at peace. I am the mind of peace. As they say in the East, I am the mind of nirvana. I am the mind of great liberation. I am that which gives him perfect stillness, perfect equanimity, perfect concentration, even though he is not concentrating. So he is absolutely aware and concentrated. He has panoramic vision as well as acute awareness. This is the state of bliss, of joy, of fulfillment.
I am absolutely indispensable in his life. I am equivalent to the neutral gear in a car.
I allow him to move from one gear to another. I am the grease, I am the lubricant.
I am what the self has been seeking and searching for. In a way, I'm also the end of the self. When I am present, there is no self. If he sits long enough, there's much, much less self-clinging. I am the voice that allows his hold on concepts, beliefs and opinions to drop away, so he is not in a state of suffering, alienation, fear or condemnation. Thoughts arise and are let go of because I am non-thinking. I transcend both thinking and not-thinking.
FACILITATOR: You mentioned that you could be called "just sitting." Can you clarify that? Why just sitting instead of just fishing? Or just sleeping?
ZAZEN: I can manifest in any posture - riding on a motorcycle, fishing along the river, running, walking. However, somehow when the spine is erect and the breathing unencumbered by poor posture, I am a deep stillness and a deep state of concentrated energy, even though I'm not about concentrating or making an effort. In fact I'm the complete opposite of effort. There is absolutely no effort necessary for me to be present. Somehow in an erect posture, being quiet and still, I manifest in the purest and most profound way. But I can certainly be present in action.
FACILITATOR: Do you arise spontaneously, or only in certain situations?
ZAZEN: I do arise very naturally when one is in the mountains, or sitting beside a stream or river, or alone in the quietness of the desert. I arise naturally when the environment is conducive. However, one needn't rely on a particular environment; it's important that people learn to be able to be me, or to let go of themselves, in order that
I be present, even in the midst of the city, in the midst of the noise and busyness of city life. It's very important that one know how to access me, and I think the easiest way to access me is to shift to the Non-Seeking Non-Grasping Mind or to Big Mind, or to one of the other non-minds like non-thinking, non-striving, and so on.
FACILITATOR: So you're a state that people can access even in the midst of activity, or in the midst of suffering or strife?
ZAZEN: Right, absolutely. Of course that's where training and practice come in. The more one accesses me, the easier and more accessible I am. In the beginning the self fears me. Until the self becomes acquainted with me, there's usually fear of losing one's self. In other words, the mind is busy and active keeping it's self-image alive, maintaining and preserving the very notion of self. I am the moment the bubble pops.
I'm the moment where the self is no longer present. Then I am accessible, I'm always here.
FACILITATOR: Is it a loss of self or a suspension of self?
ZAZEN: It can be either, it can be suspension for moments, or it can be a complete loss of self at times. I think the difference between suspension and loss is just the time duration. In that moment, it's eternal. When the self is gone, even for just moments, what is experienced is me, the eternal now, the eternal presence, the eternal present moment. The 'power of now' as Eckhart Tolle put it.
FACILITATOR: What about traditional meditation practices? Anything you want to say?
ZAZEN: A lot of people confuse true meditation with concentration exercises. Now it's true that there are a lot of concentration exercises: concentrating on mantras, or your questions, or focusing on the breath, or counting the breath - these are all valid exercises, and they do lead to me, they can lead to me. In other words, if someone is following their breath in meditation, when they become completely one with breathing, so that there's no one breathing, there's no separate watcher, no separate witness, and there's just breathing, then that's me, I'm there. So that is a way - I don't consider it the best way - but it is a way to get to me, to access me. By counting the breath, they can focus their mind, concentrate it, until they become the count itself or the number itself or the breath itself.
In Zen, there are the puzzles called koans, and people sitting with koans can become me when they become one with the koan. So let's look at one of the koans used in Zen, the koan Mu. Traditionally, a student is told to concentrate and become one with Mu. Now, this works, but it usually takes time, sometimes a very long time, even years. At some point, the one doing the concentrating and the object of that concentration merge. If you concentrate or focus on anything long enough, the distinction between subject and object will disappear, and subject and object will come to their true state of oneness. That's the basic true state of being. So the subject/object, or dualistic division will drop away and they'll become Mu.
However, there's a much, much simpler way of solving the koan Mu which can save people years of going in the wrong direction or chasing after something that continually eludes them: the Facilitator (in this case the self) simply asks, "may I speak to the voice of Mu," or "may I speak to Mu?" And then Mu replies, "Yes speaking." All right, now just sit as Mu, and immediately - it's not even immediate, it's instantaneous - at once, it is Mu sitting, it is Mu walking, it is Mu eating, it is Mu drinking a cup of coffee, it is Mu speaking. It is Mu hearing. What's it hearing? Mu.
The birds are Mu, the coffee is Mu, the other sounds are all Mu. It's all me. It's all
Mu.
People will wrestle with this dichotomy for years and years, and it's just simply -
I wouldn't say a waste of time, because there's a lot being learned in this endeavor - but it's not the best use of time. Let's put it that way. The same person could be spending years and years sitting as Mu, sitting as Big Mind, or Great Mind, sitting as the koan, rather than trying to attain it, or trying to grasp it, or trying to realize it.
In another very famous koan a monk comes to a master and asks, "What is
Buddha?" and the Master says, "The oak tree in the garden." Well, a student might sit there a long time trying to figure this out, but it can't be solved by reason. Now, is there value in trying to reason it out? Of course, absolutely. They struggle with the dualistic, rational, conceptual, analytical mind long enough and it will come to an end.
However, you can simply ask your self, "May I speak to the oak tree in the garden?" "Yes, I am the oak tree." "So, show me this oak tree." The oak tree stands up, spreads its arms and says, "I am the oak tree." That's it. It's so much simpler and more direct this way than struggling with the intellectual mind that's always asking,
"What's he saying? What's the guy asking? How can Buddha be an oak tree or anything else for that matter?" This way seems to shortcut it all, to simply ask, "May I speak to the oak tree in the garden?" and identify as that, and be that. No words are even necessary. I just stand up and spread my arms, I am the oak tree. See!
--- Transcendent Wisdom
FACILITATOR: Now, may I speak to the voice of Non-Discriminating, or Transcendent
--- Wisdom?
TRANSCENDENT WISDOM: All right, you're speaking to Wisdom.
FACILITATOR: What does this mean, Transcendent Wisdom?
TRANSCENDENT WISDOM: I have abandoned the struggle of ego. I come from a place of trust, complete trust, I am open, compassionate and loving. I don't discriminate, I do not prefer beauty over ugliness, me over you, my ideas over yours. I am about what is, the way things are. I have no preference for this over that, I am not about picking and choosing.
I am also the Wisdom that sees all things as me and that I am all things. Everything that comes into being or existence, and that which is unborn and undying, is all me. I am all form. I am formless. I am emptiness, form is emptiness. Emptiness is form.
--- Skillful Means
FACILITATOR: May I speak now to the voice of Skillful Means?
SKILLFUL MEANS: I am Skillful Means. My virtue is always to accomplish my goal in the most effective way possible. If I want to get a point across then I will do it in a way that succeeds with the least resistance or conflict.
In the everyday life of the marketplace, Genpo has found that when he acts skillfully, with integrity, he is much more successful. I know how to ask for what I want without setting up resistance or a barrier in others. I don't have to arouse conflict and posturing in others, because that only defeats my purpose. How I ask makes all the difference in the world. I can tell people what I want or wish to have in a way that does not create resentment or hostility. I don't believe in telepathy, that people can read my mind. I know how to ask for what I want without expecting that they will intuit my wishes. I also know how to ask them for what they want without believing that I am going to somehow magically intuit it. Genpo actually learned this years ago in a workshop with a business management expert, Peter Drucker. It has helped him immensely in his life and work.
I am resourceful in using every skill at my disposal, and masterful in employing my wisdom and compassion to bring about realization and awakening. Sometimes I'm referred to as 'expedient means,' and sometimes I'm just downright tricky. I will do what it takes to bring about wisdom, compassion, wakefulness, and awareness. Genpo constantly looks to me in refining his Big Mind process and in all his teaching.
My aim, is always to bring about a state of awareness that takes into consideration that we are all one, and yet we are each absolutely unique in our differences, that true democracy is not thinking that we are all equal and neglecting the fact that we are all different. In other words, my understanding of equality is not that we chop off the legs of someone seven feet tall and add extra inches to someone who is five feet tall to try to make them equal. I appreciate the seven footer as a seven-foot human being, and the five footer as a five-foot human being - absolutely equal, and yet uniquely different.
I appreciate and try to do my best to help people see and appreciate that parent is parent and child is child. Children in their child-ness are absolutely equal to parents in their parent-ness, and I still appreciate their differences. The same is true for teacher and student.
--- Intention
FACILITATOR: May I speak to the voice of Intention?
INTENTION: Yes, you're speaking to the voice of Intention.
FACILITATOR: Well tell me about you.
INTENTION: I have realized that when Genpo has an intention, or vows to accomplish something, it generally happens that by creating an intention, he is able to continually expand and go beyond his limitations.
His aspirations are to create a transformation of consciousness on this planet, to help all beings to awaken, and to be as clear, compassionate and kind as possible. He aspires to help all those who have not yet realized that we are all one to awaken to the fact that we are all in this together, and that fear, greed, and hatred, which are all based in ignorance, are creating the dire situation that we now face on this planet.
--- Power
FACILITATOR: May I speak to the voice of Power?
POWER: All right, you're speaking to the voice of Power.
FACILITATOR: Tell me about you.
POWER: I am the power and the ability to manifest the awakened Way that always acts with compassion towards all beings. I know I'm not a voice that is seeking power, because I am power, and we only seek what we are not or what we do not have.
I am the power to manifest in whatever way is necessary in any given situation: to be kind, considerate, loving and embracing; and also to be ruthlessly compassionate, tough love, when necessary. My strength comes from deep realization and awakening, and from the knowledge that all things are empty and without substance, that form is emptiness and emptiness is form, that delusion is enlightenment and enlightenment is delusion, that suffering is nirvana and nirvana is suffering.
As long as I am a human being there is no escape from suffering, and therefore I consciously choose to be a human being and to suffer.
As power I am not about resisting or overcoming situations, but about inhabiting every human emotion and every situation. I realize the wisdom of insecurity. In other words, my power is in realizing that there is no security, there's nothing that we can rely or depend on. Everything is transient, even what appear to be the most solid things are actually in constant flux. We think we can count on something outside our self, or even within, and through deep realization we discover there is no security.
This gives me the freedom to live in the moment, to be present and flexible. I don't get attached to things as easily, nor become dependent on people, ideas, or concepts.
This allows me to have concepts and ideas, to love others without an expectation or hope that I am going to be able to possess or control them.
This gives Genpo tremendous power, which if not acknowledged can easily be abused. I feel that people who do not own or acknowledge their own power are more likely to misuse me. There is a saying which is very true, that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
When I am acknowledged those who own and honor me as a voice within them have a great respect for what I am capable of, that I can manifest both positively and negatively, constructively or destructively. I can be transformative, can transform nations and even the world, or I can destroy, even bring about war and genocide. The less I am owned and respected, the more I will come out in covert ways. It's really important for people in positions of power to truly acknowledge me.
--- Supreme Wisdom
FACILITATOR: Would you now allow me to speak to the voice of Supreme Wisdom?
SUPREME WISDOM: Voice of Supreme Wisdom speaking.
FACILITATOR: Would you tell me about you?
SUPREME WISDOM: As Supreme Wisdom I both include and transcend ordinary wisdom and Non-Discriminating Wisdom. If we use the diagram of the triangle, I am at the apex; conventional wisdom and Non-Discriminating Wisdom are at the base.
I am also known as Ultimate Reality, Transcendent Reality, I go beyond both dual and non-dual. I have no preference for one thing over another, and yet I do my best to alleviate suffering when I find suffering and to bring justice when I find injustice.
I am the Wisdom that acts always as compassion in every situation, in every circumstance. My functioning is compassion. I know right from wrong, and I know it's not absolute. It's always relative. It's always dependent on conditions and circumstances.
FACILITATOR: What's your relation to the self?
SUPREME WISDOM: I am both the self and not the self. In other words, I am what could be called the True Self, or beyond self and no-self. I embody Big Mind as well as the individual self. I am the same as the Unique Self, the same as the Integrated FreeFunctioning Human Being. I am ordinary mind is the Way, but not in the ordinary sense of the word ordinary. I am both the ordinary and the extraordinary. I am so completely ordinary and simple, it is extraordinary. I am the ordinary mind and the
Way, I include both and transcend them.
As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. My understanding is that every aspect of the self, every voice, has its own innate wisdom; that if we would simply allow every voice to be heard, to be appreciated, and to be honored, we as human beings would live a much healthier, happier and joyful life; that by denying or suppressing any aspect we are creating a problem both for the self and for others.
All things, like all children, have a right to be. As in a company, or a firm, the company will thrive and function optimally, with excellence, if every employee knows their job title, job description and function, and who they work for.
I am aware that there is nothing permanent or substantial, that everything is in constant flux, changing all the time. Some of it is perceivable because it happens quickly, and some of it is imperceptible because it happens very slowly, but there is nothing solid and permanent. Everything is interdependent and connected to everything else. No man is an island unto himself.
By appreciating our own mortality and impermanence, we can appreciate each moment of each day more fully and completely. I am conscious and aware of Cause and Effect. In fact, understanding and appreciating Cause and Effect is Zen, or the wisdom of Zen.
I am simple, clear, and logical, but also not necessarily easy to embody or to live. I am very practical, absolutely practical. I am not this, and not that either. I am uncompromising discriminatory wisdom. I am the highest and most profound application of wisdom. I see things as they are, and relate to them from this clear perspective. I go beyond seeing things in a dualistic way, and also in a non-dualistic way. I am the true transcendent. When it is hot, I find some shade, or I take off some clothing. When I am hungry I eat, when I am tired I take a rest or sleep.
--- The Eight Awarenesses of the Awakened Mind
--- Having Few Desires
FACILITATOR: May I ask you about some other ways you express yourself?
SUPREME WISDOM: Go right ahead.
FACILITATOR: I would like to hear from the one who has few desires.
HAVING FEW DESIRES: Desires are absolutely necessary for the procreation and sustaining of the species. However, along with craving, longing and attachment they also are the cause of dissatisfaction, disappointment and suffering. As the one who both embraces desire and transcends desire, it is important for me to have desires and to know how to be satisfied with what I have and what comes to me.
He doesn't always get what he wants or desires, but I always want what he gets. He does always get what he needs, but not always what he wants. I choose my desires very consciously and make sure that there isn't too much attachment to getting these things. If he becomes too attached to a particular desire or outcome, then he definitely will be disappointed and suffer. It is my job to keep him aware of the consequences of wanting too much. I allow him to want things that I understand may not be possible to have in this lifetime, such as world peace and harmony, but I realize these are ideals or aspirations to work toward that give a sense of purpose and direction for something greater than himself that may not come to realization in this lifetime. He is not attached to the outcome as much as he enjoys the work and effort of moving in this particular direction.
He also has desires that are relatively harmless and easy to fulfill such as the desire for good and sometimes healthy foods that are not going to cause him a problem. I don't allow him to get on any real trip about diet, but he did in his youth and it caused problems for him and others. In the past he has been a strict vegetarian and nondrinker. Now I allow him to eat and drink wisely what he wants but in moderation. He has stopped resisting me on these things but that was not always the case.
He has matured a lot over the years. He now sees that everything that happens is a teaching, even those things he may not have wanted, and that the wise thing to do is learn the lessons as quickly as possible instead of over and over again. Deny or ignore the Law of Causation and the universe will give you feedback. Pay attention to that feedback and the universe will not have to keep giving you more and greater feedback.
This is wisdom. Do not think that you are above the Law of Cause and Effect. You will find out no one is.
FACILITATOR: Thank you very much.
--- Knowing How to Be Satisfied
FACILITATOR: May I ask you about knowing how to be satisfied?
KNOWING HOW TO BE SATISFIED: Yes of course. That is wisdom!
Knowing how to be satisfied with what one has and receives in this life is precisely wisdom. I go hand in hand with having few desires. I am easily satisfied with the things that come my way. I really appreciate life, and all it offers. I don't have a lot of resistance to the way things are.
I am one with cause and effect (karma). I surrender to what is, or you could say acknowledge what is, and then work to improve the situation for the self and others. In fact it is my wish to improve conditions on this planet precisely because I know how to be satisfied with the way things are. Instead of whining and complaining, I truly do something about the world's situation. Most people have it all backwards; it is only by knowing how to be satisfied and feeling empowered and not being a victim that I can accomplish anything truly transformative. As Dr. Phil says, you can't change what you don't acknowledge.
--- Enjoying Quiet
FACILITATOR: May I please speak to that part of you which enjoys quiet?
ENJOYING QUIET: I enjoy quiet. I really appreciate both being quiet and being in quiet surroundings and environments. I love to sit in meditation and to be around water, on the ocean, near lakes, and rivers. I also love to spend time in the desert and in the mountains. One of my favorite places to hang out is Hawaii, especially Maui.
I don't mind activity either because wherever I am I bring an internal quietness that comes from years of sitting. My mind is silent and still and that allows me to enjoy quietness wherever I am, even in the middle of a busy city like New York, Paris or
Tokyo.
This is an aspect of my wisdom too, as well as having few desires and knowing how to be satisfied with what I have. Because my mind is quiet and calm I am really at home wherever I am. I prefer quiet parties, get-togethers, and restaurants, though I am OK if they are not that way, but still my preference is for quiet places over loud and noisy ones.
--- Diligence
FACILITATOR: Would you now allow me please to speak to that part of you which is diligent?
DILIGENCE: I'm diligent, I'm earnest, I'm persistent, and I apply myself completely, one hundred plus percent to whatever I do. I give my total being, body, mind, and spirit, to every endeavor. I am like a complete bonfire that burns the wood right down to ash. Whatever I do, I do it completely and thoroughly, and I leave no trace behind.
I am a source of joy and fulfillment because I give my whole heart and soul to whatever I am doing. This doesn't mean that I am straining, or even making an effort.
I am total, complete commitment. If I give my word or begin a project, I see it through to completion.
I am even diligent about endeavors that I cannot accomplish within this lifetime, such as Genpo's vow to change the consciousness of the world. Sometimes my diligence is like trying to fill a bottomless well with snow, a teaspoonful at a time.
Sometimes it is like the little bird who discovers her home in the forest ablaze: flying back and forth, over and over, to the nearby lake, dropping a beakful of water each time to put out the huge forest fire, until she falls, exhausted, into the fire.
--- Thoughtfulness
FACILITATOR: May I now speak to the one who is thoughtful?
THOUGHTFULNESS: Yes, I am thoughtful and I remember that whatever I do has an effect on everything and everyone else, and that we are all connected, interdependent and interrelated with one another. At the same time we are all absolutely unique and different from one another. Each of us is the whole universe and absolutely perfect just as we are, and at the same time we all are imperfect and have our own faults and shortcomings. The easiest thing to do is criticize and find fault and blame others. In the strictest sense no one is above reproach or beyond criticism.
I remember that everything is empty, insubstantial, and impermanent, and yet, whatever I do matters and has effects on others throughout time and space. When I shift my perspective, I shift my attitude and this transforms me, and everyone around me. When I am negative, when I act from fear and anger, that has a certain effect on people. When I come from a more selfless place, one that is positive and kind, that has a very different effect on others. I remember that it is important to be flexible and not get fixated on things or in a specific perspective. All perspectives have validity and are only partial. No perspective is complete or the Truth, and, I remember that clinging creates suffering, and not to be attached even to non-attachment.
--- Meditation
FACILITATOR: May I please speak to the voice of Meditation?
MEDITATION: I am the voice of meditation. I can be many things. I can be focus and concentration, I can be equanimity and calmness, I can be serenity and peace of mind.
Sometimes I concentrate on something such as the breath, sometimes on a koan, sometimes I count breaths. I also can be the deepest form of meditation, in which all distinctions between subject and object disappear, and unity with all creation is realized. I offer him the possibility of true rest and peace.
As the highest, most profound form of meditation, I am the mind of non-seeking, non-grasping, and non-thinking. I have no goal or aim when I sit. I am not seeking anything whatsoever, not even in the most subtle way. I embrace both thinking and not-thinking and transcend them.
I allow thoughts to come and go of themselves and I do not chase after any thought, nor do I suppress or deny any thought. Thoughts just come and go freely and I am not disturbed by any of them, they are seen as empty and the arising of wisdom. I do not judge them as either good or bad, right or wrong, this or that. All sounds are the manifestation of Big Mind.
As Big Mind I have no preference for one thing that appears over another. I sit without boundaries or walls and am in total peace and comfort. I do not try to concentrate but am totally concentrated. I am stable and centered without trying or effort. I am Big Mind and there is nothing outside of me or beyond me. I am the point but I am completely pointless. As sitting I am the perfect manifestation of just being and non-doing.
--- Wisdom
FACILITATOR: Please let me speak to the voice of Wisdom.
WISDOM: I am the voice of Wisdom. I am the integration of Transcendent and conventional wisdom. This means I know how to get out of the cold when it's chilly, or to get cool when he's too hot. When I'm hungry I eat, when I'm thirsty I drink, when I'm tired I rest.
I know how to do very basic things that serve him in his life, and I also know that we are all connected and interdependent on one another, and that everything I do has effects on others. Sometimes that effect reaches much farther than can be perceived. I know and understand karma, the Law of Cause and Effect. I know that everything he thinks, speaks, and does has consequences.
I realize that attitude, coming from perspective, has great significance. I try to speak what I know to be the truth, to do what I know to be right, and to think in a way that brings joy and happiness into the world.
I know that my perceptions are always partial and never complete, and therefore I need not get attached to being right. I understand that I cannot judge another without having first walked a mile in his shoes, that everyone - or almost everyone - is doing the best that they can with what they have to work with, that none of us is all good, nor anyone all bad. If we wish to be critical we can criticize anyone, and put a lot of negativity out into the world, and do harm.
In fact all the voices that we have spoken to, and all voices, have their own wisdom.
Every voice has both a negative and positive aspect. When we suppress our self, or certain aspects of the self, there are going to be serious, even pathological consequences.
Every aspect and every voice has a right to be heard and acknowledged. There is no true self, and no aspect of self that is not true.
--- Mindful Speech
FACILITATOR: May I speak now to the voice of Mindful Speech?
MINDFUL SPEECH: Speech can be a very powerful thing both in a positive way and also in a destructive way when used negatively or unconsciously. Through speech we can lift a person's spirit or destroy someone's life. It takes an incredible amount of wisdom, mindfulness, and compassion to not misuse speech.
A person's character can be brought into question very easily and a life destroyed, or even many lives, just by participating in slander or gossip. A person can spend a lifetime building up his or her character and it can be destroyed in a matter of moments through idle slanderous speech. It can happen through self-righteousness or arrogance when someone thinks they are better or more moral than others. If someone is in deep self-denial about themselves and their potential to do the most grievous things then it is easy for them to cast the first stone. It was with great wisdom that
Jesus said, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."
Sometimes we put others down in order to make ourselves feel better or more important. Sometimes we find fault or blame others in order to evade responsibility for our actions. It is rather easy to find someone's faults if we are looking for them.
Somehow it is more difficult to be nice and say kind words to people, and yet we all like to hear nice and kind things about ourselves. Loving and compassionate speech is the hallmark of a mature human being. Being more kind and compassionate toward all beings and speaking lovingly to others is ultimately the path of the human being.

class:injunction
subject class:Integral Theory
subject:Integral Theory
class:Psycho therapy
class:chapter
class:Big Mind, Big Heart
author class:Genpo Roshi



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https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31937028-how-to-live-a-good-life
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35488847-how-to-live-a-good-life
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42433243-how-to-live-a-good-life


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