Fourth Way Class Notes February 10, 2009



There will be one talk/week on the website.

Come on Thursdays - Daniel will talk about what happens to you when you meditate through the years, various levels/changes, why do koan study.

The true self is the depth of practice. The practical side is how to apply it to life.

Some lean one way, deep practice but not practical, and others lean toward being too  practical. It is best when one informs the other.

The Buddha  found out who he really was - life then is like life now - it was not exotic. Daniel called him Sam.  Sam/Buddha's father had the social status equivalent of the CEO of a big company - a conservative environment. Sam/Buddha was a regular person. He was outside and saw all the suffering, sickness and death. He wanted to figure out how to solve the problem. This period of time in India was like the 60's - many went to the same town and were doing yoga, etc. Sam/Buddha was working with the group - but decided that meditation was the way.  Through his meditation practice he had the realization that solved the problem - he wasn't Sam.

An analogy - you go to the movie and become so engrossed you forget who you are - you become the main actor. The film ends - you realize that you aren't the actor - you are you.

Who you are is something that can't be grasped - like light/air that can become anything. So all things that are bothering you don't matter - the Heart Sutra describes it: "no eyes, ear,  nose, etc.

What will stop you from this realization? Too many ideas about it.

In life we keep using the same strategies even if they aren't working because that is who we think we are. If we realize we are emptiness we can switch. The secret is to be flexible - Zen calls it "unfixed." That is who we really are. By circumstances we become fixed. Practice helps us get unfixed.

We don't realize how hard it is to maintain our identity. When we are insecure, we talk to ourselves even more. Sitting suspends how we look at the world without always affirming our identity.

Daniel is reading a book about a tennis master who didn't like tennis or practicing. People who are good at something that is hard usually have to push themselves.

We need to get rid of ideas. Too many how-to books don't state the most obvious - you have to try hard.  We keep looking for the magic formula, which is misleading. Those who sit will make progress. If you want to be a great artist, you have to do what is hard not what's fun.

Personal interactions were the focus of the next section. A student mentioned the challenge of traveling with someone who was grumpy. Several students offered suggestions for how to deal with the situation. Daniel said that when someone is doing something you don't like, you can simply say "when you act XX way - I'm leaving." Stating it as such is less mechanical than accepting it - which can encourage the behavior.

It is the Japanese way to always consider Person, Place, Position (are you a teacher, parent, lover), Time and Degree when you interact with people.

Note - in this life time it is likely we will continue to get our buttons pushed in personal relationships.

Assignment

Take one thing you do, which you are working on, and make more of an overall effort. What does it mean to "try harder?" Trying harder can mean being softer. e.g., don't go into argument mode - accept others way of looking at things. Making more effort could be doing something different or for more hours.

We talked a lot about people. It is all an illusion - we are not people, we are an empty field with endless possibilities. Believing in who we think we are is why we suffer. The real meaning of attachment is that we are stuck to ourselves.
