Seven years ago I was swimming in a lake in Tuscany. Nearby a small boy appeared to need help getting into his little boat --- naturally I gave him a hand and he paddled off like a pro. As he made his way toward the deeper water, his father rushed at me screaming in Italian as if to say "what have you done, pushing my son unprotected into the middle of this lake?"
I felt really helpless to try to explain that I was just trying to assist the boy's efforts and meant no harm. From the father's point of view I was probably a criminal, a menace to society or worse! Language was completely useless in this case.
This past weekend I was in Istanbul leading a workshop with my wife, Cyndi Lee, called Yoga Body Buddha Mind. The heart of the workshop from my side is presenting a basic meditation practice called shamatha --- which is the technique of paying attention to one's breathing as a way of calming and settling the mind.
Much to my surprise, I found out the first night that samata (pronounced the same way) means having wild crazy fun in Turkish! So when I presented the idea, everybody was laughing about that.
The teachings of Buddhism come to us in the West from Tibet, Japan, China, India, Burma, Thailand, etc. Translation has been an enormous part of the work that many great teachers and their students have accomplished over the last 40-50 years or so.
Language is translatable but we also have to be aware of the subtle shades of meaning, beyond literal translation, that cultural settings impart. Gender issues, forms of government, politics, socio-economics, scientific discoveries, technological advances and many other factors can color how we receive and process information --- including the dharma.
Fortunately, when we talk about "monkey mind" -- discursive chatter -- it doesn't seem to matter much what language somebody thinks in. It seems that human beings the world over have a plethora of chatter in their mind and the basic technique of noticing that and coming back to the breath seems actually to have universal application and universal benefit. Mindfulness is something that everybody worldwide can cultivate and benefit from with no cultural barrier whatsoever.
Similarly, developing our awareness -- optimizing how we can use our five sense perceptions in their pure form to see colors, hear sounds (including music), smell, taste, touch -- appears to have universal benefits.
The qualities of love and compassion --- caring for oneself and others --- as well seem to be present in one form or another in human beings around the globe.
And finally, our habitual pattern to divide the world into friends, enemies and neutral people (those we don't even notice or care about), based on temporary judgments and conditional states of mind, seems to be common to all people. So the idea of spiritual development as a process of overcoming narrow minded and self-centered modes of thought and behavior seems to have universal potential.
If only I could have talked to that Italian father in a language we both understood I'll bet we could have come to a happier place faster -- language still can be a difficult bridge to cross sometimes.
This weekend Cyndi and I are on to Berlin to lead another workshop there. I'm sure no language barrier could ever be as high as the Berlin Wall, which fortunately is no longer there!
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Ethan Nichtern: Radical Buddhism and the Paradox of Acceptance
How about a Practice that's word-independent?
1 - Let everyone in your life - family, friends, co-workers, etc - 'be' who they present themselves as. Let them say the things they say, and do the things they do, and just accept it as them being 'who' they are.
2 - Appropriately boundarize each of your relationships, so that you are 'connected' to them without being 'dis-located' from your center by them - so that their 'drama' isn't your drama. Be your own person in the world, reasonable and sensible, balanced and harmonious, in all circumstances.
3 - Watch your own awareness for the two signs of 'not accepting' the 'felt-sense' of Things as They Are - Reactivity and Droning, where Reactivity means getting emotionally entangled with your 'felt-sense' experience, and Droning means tuning-out of, or dis-connecting from, your 'felt-sense' experience.
Watching your awareness for Reactivity and Droning is not a word-based activity, but the words Reactivity and Droning 'point at' the derangement of 'felt-sense' through emotional entanglement, and the denial of 'felt-sense' by looking-away from Things as They Are, respectfully.
So, if your Practice keeps you present to 'felt-sense' without either Reactivity or Droning on your part, then you are experiencing Things as They Are - independent of the words being used.
And, thank you, David, for your excellent 'pointing' at both the subtleties and profundities of Buddhism!
As such, Buddhism as a Practice of inner-self-discovery is 'keyed' to your own 'felt-sense' about your own experience - not the words or symbols or language of externally-focused world-views. It's a Practice whose exploration opens-up your mind to insights into removing the cause of its own suffering - the ignorance and craving of a separate self called ego. With the removal through insight of the obstructions to clarity and effortless being, comes the crystal clear realization of who you really are, and the certain knowledge of how not to suffer.
This, once realized for oneself, is the direct experience of all that language - any language - could ever hope to convey about the Truth of Things as They Are, including Who Am I? and Why Do I Suffer?
So, while there is no doubt that words and language are definitely important, and that we should work hard to authentically understand each other, also - the core of the inner spiritual work that we're talking about with Buddhism is representative, imvho, of a paradigm-shift in the very way that we, in the West, seek basic answers to understanding ourselves in this vast Universe...
There's no doubt that language is crucial, especially when it comes to sharing information, but the profundities of Buddhism have nothing to do with the written or spoken word, unlike most Western Religious institutions.
Our Western Civilization has been so externally-focused now for so long, that we've reached a turning-point in our never-ending quest for answers to life's great riddles, such as Who am I? and Why Do I Suffer? Many people are only now beginning to realize that they can find no verifiable answers to the great questions of life when they posit the questions to the external world - theirs are questions that never seem to echo-back with any certainty, beyond that of blind faith in a written, interpreted explanation that - upon present evidence - appears to be without any apparent support.
What Buddhism brings to the discussion, that is *new* to the West, is an option that the Western Religious Traditions didn't take for themselves - the Inner Practice of self-Discovery. Buddhism as an inwardly-focused Practice represents a new frontier for most of us in the West - one that's been hitherto unexplored in any meta-cultural way due to our long-held fixation with external 'explanations' of who we are and why we suffer.
Sweet tender morning words
encircle timely
Buddah paradigm
old consonants
and vowels
sinking
boat
deep, deep
still breath
shoulders drop
a glow of hope
i am.
I'm sure your intentions were good, but it sounds like you didn't think about the drowning danger.
While I don't speak Italian, I do speak parent, and the story makes me wonder if you have kids, because it definitely colors the way you see situations like this.
That said, just going on this post, you seem like a kind, compassionate person and not a criminal or menace to society at all;)
Also .... I do have a kid, but he is now 31 (Ethan Nichtern) and any attemps I have to put him in the boat or get him out of it are obsolete! And..... he seems to have survived pretty well up to this point!
In any case thank you for your comments, both constructive criticism and the vote of confidence at the end.... sending all best, David N.
I'm go grateful that teachers like Chogyam Trungpa brought Buddhism to the United States. I've been chronically ill for nine years and the teachings of the Buddha have been my source of comfort and inspiration.
Toni Bernhard
www.howtobesick.com
Sorry to hear about your illness and sending best wishes for your well being even in difficult circumstances.... so glad that Trungpa Rinpoche's teaching has helped you with your situation.... he himself was in a car accident early on and suffered significant paralysis on his left side.... not sure if you were aware of that or not.... he was a brilliant teacher and his work has left a lasting impression and ripple of goodness in the west ....
Best,
DN
I've read all of Trungpa Rinpoche's books and knew about his auto accident. I've always found his life inspiring, beginning with that harrowing trek out of Tibet. I've written a book on living well with chronic illness. It's to be published in the Fall by Wisdom Publications. In it, I talk about tonglen practice as taught by Rinpoche and then Pema Chodron. The book is called: How To Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers. I'm hoping it can help a lot of people.
Yes, Trungpa Rinpoche was a brilliant teacher! Thanks for your well wishes.
Toni Bernhard
www.howtobesick.com
All best, David N.
David ROCKS and plays a mean guitar
much metta
Ed
PS- enjoy your journey
Meanwhile, we are taking a train to Copenhagen Wednesday (no planes at the moment) and hopefully will be able to fly back next week to NY.... keep your fingers crossed!
Enjoy the Spring!
DN