Contrived Mind vs. Basic Mind

This is the first post for Blathering Nonsense from my good Dharma friend Kyoshin and the first to kick off our discussion.... 

Thank you Jon for inviting me to participate in this informal discussion of the book The Words of My Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche. I have to admit that Tibetan Buddhism is probably my weakest area of knowledge and experience when it comes to the Buddha-dharma so I am very much looking forward to learning new things.

Like Jon my main practice-path is Jodo Shinshu and so that is the background that will inevitably influence my approach to the discussion. Bearing this in mind I was very much interested by a sentence in the Dalai Lama's introduction to my copy of The Words of My Pefect Teacher: "one cannot become enlightened through a contrived mind". This would make a pretty good summary of the realisation that is the starting point of Jodo Shinshu practice!

The Dalai Lama then continues; "rather, the basic mind is to to be identified, in relation to which all phenomena are to be understood as the sport of the mind." Athough this passage uses rather different terminology it seems to me that there are obvious resonances with the process of discarding the contrived mind (hakarai) and pointing out and receiving of the true mind (jp. shin jin) [of Amida], which is beyond self, in the Jodo Shinshu tradition.

Namuamidabutsu. Palms together, Kyoshin

(http://echoesofthename.net/)

receiving

several friends and family are undergoing or about to undergo retreat over the next few weeks and having recently returned myself, this makes me very happy to hear.

getting back to "the real world" here in Hull is proving, perhaps inevitably, to be a bit bumpy post-Chomon. i am after all, still very much the same person with the same hang-ups and delusions.

i guess there's a danger if we enter into something such as retreat with the idea of achieving or accomplishing. of course, that's the kind of goal-orientated society we live in so it's not hard to see why it frequently permeates all aspects of our lives, from social interactions and recreational pursuits to yes, spiritual ones. but if that's the frame of mind we have prior to retreat then it may come as a shock, once back in the saha world, back to work, back to pleasure, back to same old habits to realise how little we've changed!

looking back over my time across in Japan with the benefit that a few weeks can bring, i see a process not of achieving anything through my own efforts but instead, and this may come as no surprise to fellow nembutsu followers, always receiving from Other. and i think holding this experience in mind is helping me now as i settle unsteadily back into the grind. there's always a firm tendency to wish to bring about solutions to any problems we encounter but i'm beginning to feel i should instead, calmy be aware of what the problem or problems faced are showing me.because they're none other than my own nature. the same nature that receives Amida's embrace.

namu amida butsu

Pre- Chomon Reflections 2

thinking some more about the question and having talked it through with friends, i'm left wondering if this feeling and urge that i could be doing more or that i'm not doing enough or that there's a conclusion i must come to lying cruelly just beyond my reach is born out of mistakenly viewing Amida's light as constrained or bound by a fixed point in time, missing the crucial point that he is the Buddha of Infinite Light. holding the idea that if i could just find an answer then i will be able to bring this light closer towards me and keep a hold of it in my day to day life. but in being distracted by looking for an answer i'm thus failing to realise there's no need to bring this light closer to me because in the words of  Shinran -

with the light of the sun or moon, when something has come between, the light does not reach us. Amida's light, however, being unobstructed by things, shines on all sentient beings; hence the expression, "Buddha of unhindered light." Amida's light is unhindered by sentient beings' minds of blind passions and karmic evil; hence the expression, "Buddha of unhindered light."

- Mida Nyorai Myogotoku


but that still leaves the admonishment of Rennyo to make Buddhadharma fundamental to one's life. how does this fit? in Seikaku's Yuishinsho we find the following -


Suppose that there is a man at the bottom of a tall cliff unable to climb it, but there is a strong man on the cliff above who lowers a rope and, thinking to have the man at the bottom take hold of it, tells him he will draw him up to the top. However, the man at the bottom holds his arms back and refuses to take the rope, doubting the strength of the man pulling and fearing that the rope is weak. Thus it is altogether impossible for him to climb to the top. If he unhesitatingly followed the man's words, stretched out his hands and grasped the rope, he would be able to climb at once. It is difficult for people who doubt the Buddha's power and who do not entrust themselves to the power of the Vow to climb the cliff of enlightenment. One should simply put out the hand of trust and take hold of the rope of the Vow.

One should simply put out the hand of trust and take hold of the rope of the Vow.


namu amida butsu

The Limitations of Self

"It is not  simply due to  actual benefit that I trust in Tathagata, but also due to another important reason. I trust in Tathagata because I realise that my intellect is limited. Except for the period when I was not  serious about life, Ialways felt a keen desire to enquire into the meaning of my life. As a result of that enquiry, I eventuallly reached the conclusion that the meaning of life is inscrutable. That conclusion has led me to trust in Tathagata. Since not everyone goes through a process of enquiry to arrive at religious conviction, some might contradict me  and say that it was not necessary for me to do what I did in order to gain trust in Tathagata. But I disagree. Such a course was necessary for me. In my religious conviction I am now aware of the utter uselessness of my self-efforts. In order to realise this I had to pursue all  kinds of intellectual investigations until I finally came to the point where I recognised the utter futility of such efforts. It was an extremely painful process. Before reaching that ultimate point, I thought that at times I had formed some ideas about my religious conviction. but one after another each of those ideas were smashed.Such bitter experiences were unaviodable as long as I sought to establish religious conviction on the basis of logic or scholarly enquiry. After going through such a difficult process, I have come to realise that I cannot define good or evil, truth or untruth, happiness or unhapiness.. Aware of my total ignorance, Ihave come to entrust all matters to Tathagata. This is the most essential point in my religious conviction." 

- Manshi Kiyozawa