DALAI LAMA ON THE SELF

In a dharma talk from Dharamsala, India, on December 19-20, 2011, the Dalai Lama talked about the nature of the self.  "Who do we mean when we say 'I?'" he asked.  For instance, the "I" we are as a baby is not the same "I" we are as an adult.

He went on to present the well-known analogy of a cart, pointing out that a cart is made of parts, the wheels, the box, the pull bar, and so forth.  In the same way, a person, an "I," is made up of components.  They are called "skandhas" in Buddhism.  These are (1) the body, (2) the sense-perception, (3) the feelings, (4) the "sankharas" (difficult to translate but meaning approximately the instincts and the subconscious), (5) the faculty of reason.   It is the union of these "skandhas" that constitutes an individual. 

As long as the "skandhas" are held together the individual functions as a single being, lives, and has a history, even as each component is in perpetual flux.  The body changes from day to day only a little less conspicuously than the mental states. 

At death the union dissolves, the "skandhas" disperse, and the individual, the "I," ceases to exist.  In this way, then, the "I" is merely an appearance, and as only an appearance it does not carry on after death.  This is the Buddhist doctrine of "anatta," no-self.

SPIRITUAL ATTRACTION

The Atman--who a person really is--is drawn to Brahman, its source, like the needle of a compass to a magnet.  This attraction leads ultimately to the awakening of the Atman into Brahman, called moksha or liberation in Vedanta.

The trouble comes when the compass that is the Atman becomes covered in the dust and dirt of the thinking mind and egoic self.  Accordingly, the Atman's draw to the Brahman is lessened, which delays its destiny.

Spiritual practice, sadhana, particularly meditation, sweeps away the debris of the thinking mind and egoic self, making it possible for the Atman to find and, soon enough, unite with Brahman.

In meditation the Atman is able to see that it is not the thinking mind and egoic self that it has identified with, enabling it to disengage from them and cast them aside.

THE DIFFERENCE

The Buddhist says everything other than the Buddha’s Path to ending suffering is irrelevant, while the Vedantist argues that everything other than union with the Divine is irrelevant.  Buddhism is pragmatic; Vedanta is mystical.

The Buddhist deals only with what meets the eye.  For the Vedantist, there is more than meets the eye.  The Buddhist is focused on the surface of the pond, the Vedantist on the depth of the pond.

THE ABSOLUTE

In Vedanta, Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute, or the Godhead, or the Ground of Being.

Brahman is conceived as either impersonal (“without qualities”), or personal (“with qualities”), depending on the philosophical school.  For example, Advaita philosophy considers Brahman to be without form, qualities, or attributes, while Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita philosophies understand Brahman as having infinite auspicious qualities.

Brahman cannot be seen or heard but can be known intuitively.  This is to say that it cannot be known by empirical means, i.e. as an object of our consciousness. This is because it is our own consciousness.

It may be said, therefore, that moksha, liberation, does not mean knowing Brahman intellectually. Rather it is realizing suddenly that one is and always has been Brahman.  Indeed, in Advaita’s view, a liberated person is one who sees that Brahman is his own true self.

Generally, Vedanta rejects the notion of an evolving Brahman since Brahman is already everything else it could be.

NETI-NETI

In the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya is asked by his students to describe Brahman.  He states, "The Divine is not this, and it is not that," (neti-neti).

Thus, the Divine is not real as we are real, nor is it unreal.  The Divine is not living, in the sense that humans live, nor is it dead.  The Divine is not compassionate as we use the term, nor is it without compassion.

This is to say, we can never truly define the Divine in words.  All we can say, in effect, is that "It isn't this, but also it isn't that either."  In the end, the student must transcend words to understand the nature of the Divine. 

Neti-neti is not unique to Vedanta.  Called apophatic or negative theology, it is also found in Greek philosophy, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Taoism.  The opposite of the apophatic approach, called cataphatic theology, is found as well in all the philosophies and religions of the world, including Vedanta.

BASIC FIVE OF VEDANTA

1. Attachment:  Over involvement in the outside world, having desires for things that one does not have, and clinging to things one has.

2. Detachment:  Turning away from over involvement in the outside world, and turning toward Brahman/God instead.

3. Karma:  The principle that governs the unfolding of events in one’s life, based on the integrity with which one has lived his previous lives and is living his current life.

4. Moksha, Liberation:  the result of turning away from participation in the outside world and toward Brahman/God. With moksha comes release from the cycle of rebirths. 

5. Samsara:  The process of successive rebirths until one reaches moksha.

CRUCIAL UNDERSTANDING

There is a background consciousness in each of us that is aware of us and the physical world, although it does not act in either us or the physical world.  Layered over this consciousness are a thinking mind and an egoic self which, as products of the brain, are of the physical world and do act in it.

The background consciousness is unchanging, permanent, and reliable while the thinking mind and egoic self, being of the physical world, are transient, impermanent, and unreliable.

Yet, we identify with our thinking mind and egoic self, believing that they are who we really are, our true selves, when, in truth, who, or rather what we really are is the background consciousness, that which is changeless, permanent, and abiding. Our misidentification with the thinking mind and egoic self causes us great suffering in our lives.

The extent to which we can separate ourselves from our thinking mind and egoic self, called moksha, liberation in Vedanta, is the degree to which we can eliminate our endless suffering.

But how do we separate ourselves from our thinking mind and egoic self?  It is not by using them to do so. Rather, it is by realizing, by “waking up,”--it dawns on us all of a sudden--that who, what we actually are is the background consciousness, the pure consciousness that Vedanta calls Brahman.

JUST BEING

We spend most of our time replaying our past or rehearsing our future.  The present, where we actually are, where our lives are in fact taking place, we pay little attention to.  If anything, the present is an obstacle to where we really want to be, which is in the previous moment or in the next moment. 

The present moment is a place of waiting, waiting for the next memory or waiting for what is going to happen next, in the future.  Compounding the problem is how fleeting the present moment, the "now," is.  Where exactly is “now?”  No sooner do we believe we have it than it drops into the past or slips into the future.   

The solution is simply to stop thinking, or to think only when we must for practical purposes.  In Zen this is called no-mind, "mushin" in Japanese, or "mind without mind.”  No-mind is just being. 

All things other than humans live this way.  A rock just is, a tree just is, other animals just are.  They just "be."

NO-MIND

"No-mind" in Zen is a mind not fixed or occupied by thought or emotion and thus open to everything.  The word for this in Japanese is mushin, short for mushin no shin, meaning mind without mind.  Such a mind is likened to a still pond which is able to reflect the moon and trees without distortion.

Highly trained martial artists are said to enter into this state during combat.  They rely, in this way, not on what they "think" should be their next move, but on what their trained natural reaction is, or on what they feel intuitively is the next move.  No-mind is not, however, a state of relaxation.  Rather, the mind is working at a high rate of speed, only with no intentions, plans or direction. 

A demonstration of mushin that is well known among martial artists is when a master stands on one side of a stage and a student of his on the other.  The student shoots an arrow at the master's chest and the master catches the speeding arrow in one hand inches from the arrow's destination.  The master does not think about when he should reach for the arrow.  He just reaches.

WHY “NOW”?

We emphasize living in the present moment rather than, as we are prone to do, in the past or in the future.  But why is this so important?  When our attention is focused on the present moment, on "now," it is not all out and around but inward, and inward is the gateway to God, or to what Eckhart Tolle calls Presence. 

It could just as well be called Buddha-Nature, that is, "the uncreated and indestructible essence, svabhava, or 'true Self' of all beings."  In Vedanta it is Atman/Brahman.  Christians refer to it as the kingdom of God, "The kingdom of God is within you," Luke 17:21.  It is living where life actually is and what life actually is.

BUDDHA-NATURE

When the Buddha became enlightened he realized that all beings without exception have the same nature and potential for enlightenment, and this is known as buddha-nature.  This is to say, all beings have buddha-nature because all beings have within them what is called the essence of the Buddha, this seed, which can blossom into a buddha and which constitutes one's potential for enlightenment.

Buddha-nature, also called Buddha-dhatu or Buddha Principle, (Tathagatagarbha in Sanskrit; Bussho in Japanese) is taught differently in the various Buddhist traditions.  In Chinese Ch’an Buddhism, for example, buddha-nature is seen as the essential nature of all beings.  Here, enlightenment is a process of uncovering this inherent nature.  Buddha nature is considered to be identical with transcendental reality.  It is the unity of the Buddha with everything that exists.

Tibetan Buddhism speaks of buddha-nature in terms of the true nature of mind.  The true nature of mind, they say, is beyond conception, yet it is present in every object.  The true nature is always here, but due to our temporary obscurations, i.e. our activities in the world, our egoic perceptions, etc., we do not recognize it.  Buddha-nature is beyond conception; it cannot be explained, cannot be encompassed by words.  Although we can say it is, for instance, clarity and vastness, we cannot see it or touch it; it is beyond expression.

The doctrine of buddha-nature is often associated with the Lotus Sutra and its influence on later sutras. One of the unique themes in the Lotus Sutra, particularly in the tenth chapter titled "Teachers of the Dharma," is the assertion, again, that everyone has the ability to become a buddha, that this ability is not limited to monks, nuns, laypeople, or bodhisattvas, but is present in other beings even in non-human creatures.  All living beings not only have the ability to become a buddha, but indeed can be a "teacher of the Dharma" here and now.

LOTUS SUTRA

Three principal themes dominate the Lotus Sutra: 

First, all vehicles are one vehicle.  Here, the doctrine of triyana, or "three vehicles" to nirvana is discussed.  The triyana describes people who realize enlightenment by hearing the Buddha's sermons; people who realize enlightenment for themselves through their own effort; and, lastly, people who have chosen the way of the bodhisattva, a bodhisattva being one who has postponed buddhahood in order to help others gain enlightenment.  But the Lotus Sutra says that the three vehicles are one vehicle, the buddha vehicle.

The second theme is that all beings may attain buddhahood and attain nirvana.  One point of significance here is the Buddha's promise to several women that they will attain buddhahood without having to be reborn as men.  Meantime, the Buddha is presented in the Lotus Sutra as dharmakaya--the unity of all things and beings, unmanifested, beyond existence or nonexistence, unbound by time and space.  Because the dharmakaya is all beings, all beings have the potential to awaken to their true nature and attain buddhahood.

The final theme is the importance of faith and devotion.  This is to say that buddhahood may not be attained through intellect alone.  Indeed, the Mahayana view is that the absolute teaching cannot be expressed in words or understood by ordinary cognition.  This is why the Lotus Sutra emphasizes the significance of faith and devotion because it makes buddhahood more accessible to laypeople, who do not spend their lives in ascetic monastic practice. 

In 6th century China, the Lotus Sutra was promoted as the supreme sutra by the monk Chih-i, founder of the Tiantai school of Mahayana Buddhism, called Tendai in Japan.  In part through Tendai influence, the Lotus became the most revered sutra in Japan.  It deeply influenced Japanese Zen and also is an object of devotion of the Nichiren school.

KRIPA

Kripa in Vedanta is the concept of divine grace.  It is the central tenet of Bhakti, devotional Yoga and is akin to similar beliefs found in the mysticism of all traditions.

In Vedanta, divine grace can catapult a devotee into a period of intense personal transformation which in turn can lead to his moksha, liberation.

Bhakti literature is replete with references to kripa, seeing it as the ultimate key to self-realization.  In fact, some, like the ancient sage Vasistha, in his classical work Yoga Vasistha, considered it the only way to transcend the bondage of lifetimes of karma.

Vasistha states that divine grace is the sole way of moving beyond the effects of prarabdha karma, past karmas, that are carried by each person and which are ready to be experienced through the present body.

The Vedanta philosopher Madhvacharya believed that grace was not a gift from God but something that must be earned.

The Buddha, by contrast, did not speak of divine grace, but then neither did he speak of God.  What he taught, however, is not considered incompatible with the idea of divine grace.

WHERE IS GOD?

Vedanta teaches that God is not "out there" somewhere, but rather, as Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God is within."  In the words of Swami Prabhavananda, "Never for one moment are we separated from God.  God is within us always."

The task of the spiritual aspirant is to awaken to God.  By way of spiritual practice (sadhana), to include meditation and devotion, an atmosphere is created whereby, as it is described, the Atman can awaken to Brahman.  What makes it a profound experience is that the Atman IS Brahman, or as Jesus said, "I and my Father are one."