Ox Herding

Desire

As one of the Three Poisons, desire plays a central role in the production of suffering. In fact, the Buddha says:

Desire is the root of suffering . . . whatever suffering arises, all that has desire as its source. (SN 42:11)

Of course, garden-variety desires (for a new iPod, car, flat-screen TV, wife, etc.) certainly produce suffering.

But the Buddha also describes a more pernicious aspect of desire that arises in relationship to the skandhas, or aggregates:

These five aggregates, subject to clinging, are rooted in desire . . . in relation to the five aggregates, there lingers a residual conceit 'I am.' (SN 22:59 & 22:89)

Over the next two weeks, I'll look more deeply into desire and the subtle ways it plays out in daily experience. Perhaps together we can reveal more about this I am.

Photo by Stefan Lins

Wonderful

You've probably seen today's video before and it really doesn't have much dharmic content (any dharmic content?). But "Her Morning Elegance" by Oren Lavie is just so darn lovely that I can't resist posting it. Enjoy!

Best wishes for a wonderful weekend! Thank you for reading Ox Herding.

Barry

Mindfulness

The Chinese character for "mindfulness" is comprised of two parts jin and shin. When together, the entire character is pronounced, nian.

The upper half of the character, "jin," means now - this present moment. The lower half of the character, "shin," is often translated as heart/mind.

Right Mindfulness, of course, is the seventh step of the Eightfold Path. It is the practice of perceiving in this very moment what arises and passes away in the heart/mind.

How is it, just now?

How is it, just now?

How is it, just now?

Thich Nhat Hanh Update

Today I received the following good news from a member of the Thich Nhat Hanh community:

Dear Friends,
As many of you know, Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) was hospitalized for a lung infection and was receiving IV antibiotics at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was just discharged and will be continuing treatment as an outpatient, which is very good news. He is 83 and was unable to go to the Colorado Retreat but will rejoin the tour in California after his treatment ends.

The message continued with the following request for assistance:

Right now 400 young Plum Village Vietnamese monastics are under attack in Vietnam and are being forced to leave by September 2. There is no place to go and the government is trying to force them to disrobe and abandon their monastic vows.

Please click here to find out how you can assist in this situation. If all of us were to email our elected officials, it could make a difference.

Jerome's Niece

Check out this creative new blog:  Jerome's Niece.

It's a place to share short, interesting quotes from the sutras and other sources. Anyone can post, so give it a try!

 

Good Idea!

In the Bahudhatuka Sutta, the Buddha delivers a very good idea! The sutra isn't very long, but for me this is the essence:

Ananda, the bhikkhu knows: when this is present, that happens. When this arises, that arises. When this is not present, that does not happen. When this ceases, that ceases."

The Buddha offers this wonderful shorthand for dependent origination as a tool for studying the mind. If we examine ourselves carefully, we can discover directly how our mind functions to produce arising and cessation.

This is our practice. It's a very good idea!

Photo by Michel
Note: I modified the punctuation of the source translation for emphasis.

Formations

During my time away from Ox Herding, I read Thich Nhat Hanh's book, The Heart of Buddha's Teaching. In one passage on the Eightfold Path, he writes:

To be aware of the mind is to be aware of the mental formations (chitta samskara). "Formations" (samskara) is a technical term in Buddhism. Anything that is "formed," anything that is made of something else, is a formation.

A flower is a formation. Our anger is a formation, a mental formation . . . Some are uplifting and help us transform our suffering . . . and others are heavy and imprison us in our suffering.

These formations don't just appear willy-nilly - we create them, fabricate them in response to conditions.

So how can we work responsibly with these formations, not just on the cushion but also throughout daily life?

We can first begin by seeing what is actually present in any moment. We can ask: why this formation? What in me produced this?

We can get to know ourselves as we actually are. Isn't that the work?

Photo by Michel

Thich Nhat Hanh in Hospital

Thich Nhat Hanh is presently in Massachusetts General Hospital with an infection of pseudomonas aeruginosa, a serious but treatable pathogen. He had planned to lead a retreat during this time but will remain in the hospital for at least two weeks.

He has written a moving letter to his community which you can download below.

I hope all of us will practice in support of Thay's rapid recovery.

Kwan Seum Bosal  Kwan Seum Bosal  Kwan Seum Bosal

Download TNH Letter

Play

Back on July 7, I pushed the secret Pause button on Ox Herding so that I could dedicate time to a period of self-examination.

My life had hit a big-time speed bump and required all the commitment I could offer. Many of you extended support and I'm grateful for your messages. They mattered.

So . . . wazzup with the pause?

All of us understand how craving, attachment, anger, and ignorance create anguish and misery. Indeed, many of us came to practice precisely because of this.

Over the past weeks I looked at how these factors were poisoning my life. I mean, I peeled back the skin and really looked.

And I discovered something that 20 years of practice hadn't yet revealed - a profound attachment to the feeling-state of being respected, adored, and liked.

Once this insight appeared, I quickly uncovered how I manipulate and distort relationships to get this feeling. I'll do whatever it takes. And I also saw that when the world doesn't cooperate with my attachment, I give vent to anger.

In essence, I saw how I create the cycle of samsara.

Having seen something true about myself, I also could see the way to acknowledge and work with it.

In this way, the attachment itself might become a path to freedom. Frankly, it's more exciting than anything I've done in a long time!

And now I'm pushing the Play button so that together we can watch a few more reels of Ox Herding.