Andrew Furst's Blog, page 32

Hope is the thing with feathers – Emily Dickinson – Compass Songs

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –

That perches in the soul –

And sings the tune without the words –

And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –

And sore must be the storm –

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –

And on the strangest Sea –

Yet – never – in Extremity,

It asked a crumb – of me.

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 Compass Songs is an ongoing series of works by poets that I enjoy. Poetry, as the Zen Masters have said, is like a finger pointing to the moon. It speaks the unspeakable.

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Modern Koans – Why Right Concentration?

The Eightfold Path Series

This is the one of several posts I will be offering titled the Eightfold Path Series. As I've reflected on my experience, I've come to see the Path as both the practice and the fruition. As we inch closer to realization of our true nature, we discover that the wisdom, ethics, and mindfulness prescribed by the Buddha are the most natural expression of our being.

John Daido Loori Roshi's book Invoking Reality was transformational for me. In it Roshi turns the path on it's head in a way that uncovers it's challenge to us. The path and the precepts are not rules and regulations that lead to punishment by the karmic cosmos, but a way for us to see our true selves by looking through the prism of these personal dimensions. I see the path  and the precepts as questions, not rules.  Let's explore them.

To me, on the surface, concentration and effort have all the appeal of doing your taxes.  If any part of the path is like a checklist, it’s these two.  As I mentioned in the Oxherd Series, there is work to do, but it’s different from the kind of work that we’re accustom to. The context of these prescriptions are important to understand.

The doing that we're doing feels more like undoing. We're not producing anything, we're cleaning house.
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In the Samma Samadhi Sutra, concentration is taught as a series of attainments or Jnanas.  These are insights or knowledge gained from the experience of meditation.

Notably you’ll find the use of the term rapture several times in this translation.  So while there seems to be some bean counting here, it sounds inviting!

The Four Jnanas:

Withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful (mental) qualities — enters & remains in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation.
With the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, he enters & remains in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal assurance.
With the fading of rapture, he remains equanimous, mindful, & alert, and senses pleasure with the body. He enters & remains in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare, ‘Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasant abiding.’
With the abandoning of pleasure & pain — as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress — he enters & remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain.

This is called right concentration.

– samma samadhi *

Concentration?

When I think of concentration, it brings to mind a dogged attention to a task or a diligent focus of the mind. When we concentrate, we exert control over our mental faculties to achieve an end.  But if we read the qualities of the jnanas, it seems we’re moving in the opposite direction. First we draw inward, letting go of our sensory perceptions and then our thoughts. In the second jnana we let go of introspection and self evaluation.  Then we let go of the obstructions preventing us from experiencing the sensations of the body and finally we let go of pleasure and pain.  Sounds like we’re tossing ballasts off the side of the balloon.

The doing that we’re doing feels more like undoing. We’re not producing anything, we’re cleaning house.

On the surface, right concentration and effort have all the appeal of doing your taxes.
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Isn’t that what we would expect by now on this unusual little trip the Buddha laid out for us. Less is the new more.  Free is the new rich.  Being present is the new present.

The stage of right concentration is never ending.  It nourishes everything else.  I’ve found in my years of meditation, this is where the learning starts and it never ends. Right concentration feeds right view.  It informs right effort. It guides the ethical application of body, speech, and mind. It clarifies intentions and reinforces mindfulness. Right concentration puts us right where we belong, at the feet of the Buddha.

 

“Right Concentration: samma samadhi”, edited by Access to Insight. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013,http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-samadhi/index.html .

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I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Modern Koans is an ongoing series that recognizes that good questions are often more important than their answers.

The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man. ― G.K. Chesterton

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Dialectic Two Step, Modern Koans, Verse Us, Say What?, and Minute Meditations all copyright Andrew Furst

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Faces – Tiny Drops (Photography)

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All Tiny Drop photos Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

 

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Enders Falls – A One Minute Meditation

Enders Falls

The name Ender

is Turkish in origin

It means

“scarce”

As I wander

these

New England

waterfalls

I remember from my

youth,the

scarcity

of beauty and the

decline of nature

I am grateful for

the partnership

that has evolved

between humanity

and nature

Enders Falls in Granby, CT

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Minute Meditations is an ongoing series of short videos, poems, and commentary intended as a meditation.  Offered as an opportunity to step back from your cyber routine and settle into a more natural rhythm, if only for a minute.

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These videos are produced for those of us who spend an inordinately large amount of time in the cyber-world.  They are not a substitute for unplugging from your devices and taking a stroll near trees, water, or a patch of unkempt grass.  Getting out into the world - touching, smelling, hearing, and seeing nature is the best way to reconnect with our prime purpose.  

What is our prime purpose? We are feeling and sensing machines.  We are the universe looking back on itself. We are witness to the wonders and dangers of living in this corner of the cosmos.  We are the seekers looking for connection a little further beyond yesterday's borders and boundaries.

But sitting and staring at the screen robs us of the sustenance that we rely upon for wonder and sanity.  These videos are an opportunity to bring the sensations of nature to you, while you're in the cyber-world. Its an opportunity to relax your gaze, resettle your posture,  and regain some depth in your breath.  Listen and watch the video and allow your self to open up and recharge.

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Hand Made Buddhist Shrine – Altoid Tin Project

I had some fun crafting this little Altoid tin project. I’m calling it the Sukhavati Box (Sukhavati means land of Bliss or Pure Land). It is a little portable Pure Land Shrine, its for sale, and it’s available at the store now.

 

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It includes:

1. Images of Amitabha Buddha (Chinese: Amitofo) and Avalokiteshvara (Chinese: Quanyin).

2. a small handmade origami box with a quote from the Pure Land Sutra and an Amitabha mandala.

3. An incense cone and bottle cap burner

4. A hand made bottle cap candle.

5. Four (4) cards that lead you through a Pure Land Meditation including an incense mantra, a light mantra, the Pure Land mantra, and a closing metta prayer.

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A Few Thoughts On Belief

A collection of posts capturing my thoughts and the thoughts of others on the topic of belief.

Can You Recognize Evidence For God? – Dialectic Two Step


Dialectic Two-Step, Writings




























It’s The Community – Say What?


Cartoons, Say What?




























The Cult of Science – Dialectic Two Step


Dialectic Two-Step, Writings




























From Zero to Buddhist – 10 Principles For Finding Your Religion


Dialectic Two-Step, Writings




























My Got-It-Togetherness Graph – Dialectic Two Step


Dialectic Two-Step, Writings




























Trust and Belief


Favorites, Quotes




























An Argument for Lightweight Belief in God


Dialectic Two-Step, Writings




























Jiddu Krishnamurti On Belief


Favorites, Quotes

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Harrumph – Say What?

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Say What?  is an ongoing series of laconic exchanges on Buddhism in the format of a comic strip. 

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What People Are Reading – February 2017

Here’s what people are reading here on andrewfurst.net in February 2017:

Teddy Roosevelt on Trouble – Quotes
Hooked On the Afterlife? – Dialectic Two Step
Secular Buddhism – What’s Your Take? – Modern Koans
Compass Songs – Someone Should Start Laughing
Looking Skyward – Tiny Drops (Photography)
Sparks – Tiny Drops
My November Guest – Robert Frost – Compass Songs
The Fount – Tiny Drops
Under The Skin – A One Minute Meditation
Garwin Falls – A Two Minute Meditation

At Patreon you can make small monthly micro-contributions that help support my work.

If Patreon doesn't work for you, then drop me a one time contribution at PayPal.me

 

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Seeing – Verse Us (Poems by Me)

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Seeing – by Andrew Furst

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Verse Us - Poems I write: haiku, senryu, mesostics, free verse, random word constructions, I might even use rhyme or meter once and a while.

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Have Smartphones Made Us Happier? – Dialectic Two-Step

I would argue that if we look for happiness in smartphones, we’re doing it wrong. Happiness – a temporary thing – can come in two ways:

The world lines up with our preferences (we get what we want or we avoid what we don’t want).  How often does this happen?
We line up with the way the world is. This happens when we acknowledge that things don’t always work out the way we want and recognize that we can have a meaningful life if we avoid wallowing in disappointment

Dialectic Two-Step  is an ongoing series of my thoughts on questions that come my way.

Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two. - Octavio

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