A Finger Pointing at the Moon
Remembering the Brilliance of the Enlightened One(s).
If you could kindly tap the ❤️ at the top or bottom of this newsletter it will make it easier for other people to find this publication. Ahéhee'! བཀའ་དྲིན་ཆེ།! 謝謝! Thank you! ขอบคุณ! شكرا ! תודה! Спасибо! धन्यवाद! Merci y Muchisimas gracias!
This passed week, throughout Asia and the greater world, countless beings celebrated the birth, life and passing of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, in a sacred holiday known to some as Saga Dawa, to others Vesak. It is beneficial to set aside time when we can to contemplate the lives of wise ancestors and consider how their actions might offer guidance to our lives now. For Buddhists, the life story of “the Anointed One”, who was born in Lumbini, Nepal and spent most of his life teaching throughout Asia until finally he passed into “parinirvana” in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India offers the most quintessential example of how Dharma (the teachings that Buddhist practitioners follow) is to be applied.
In Buddhism, as is also true in other spiritual traditions, there are many schools under the banner of its name. Each school offers a unique approach for understanding the teachings of Buddha. Originally for me, because of an early encounter with H.H. The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, it was the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddism (vajrayana) that attracted me most. Over the years however I have found beauty and great benefit in learning from all the “vehicles” (a term given in reference to the various schools of Buddhism). This year, I found myself celebrating Vesak in all three of the main Buddhist schools; Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana respectively.
First, in a secluded cave in the mountains of Northern Thailand, I joined a group of Theravadan forest monks to chant in Pali (the language spoken by Siddhartha) the story of the life of Lord Buddha.
Second, I attended (online) a multi-day vajrayana teaching on tantra sādhanā, with Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche where we recited The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra (“The Gold Sūtra”) together and took Bodhisattva vows.
Finally, I traveled to the imperial city of Hue, Vietnam to make a pilgrimage to the Từ Hiếu “Root Temple” where the late Zen master, Thich Naht Hanh was first trained in the tradition of the Lieu Quán, which traces back to the Lâm Te Dyana School (Linji) to honor the life of Buddha (as well as the life of Master Thay (as Naht Hanh is affectionately referred to) in a more traditional Mahayana-esque way. (Incidentally, this is where I am now, writing to you from a small stool and bench, gazing over a lotus filled pond, comforted by the sounds of deep resonating bells, catching an occasional whiff of slowly burning incence.)
As an educator, a post-activist, a writer, a father and concerned citizen of the world who is often misunderstood, one of the things I love most about the historic Buddha, is his masterful ability to teach. It is often said that he taught in 84,000 ways. The reason for this is that he was deeply aware of the human condition, how each individual receives information differently based on countless temporarily arising phenomena and therefore, each individual requires a uniquely prescribed formula for interpreting information in a way that is custom fit to ones particular place in space and time.
Siddhartha Gautama’s main aspiration was to liberate all beings from suffering (i.e. “wrong view”). Therefore, the goal of all his teachings was to eventually lead to this place. He made it very clear throughout his life that it was not he who would bestow his students with that which they were seeking, that it was up to them to do the work themselves, to generate the skills necessary to awaken from the sleepy habitual patterns than keep most humans in a cycle of destructive activity.
The Buddha could see that for some, many rules were necessary. Without clear guidelines it was hard for many to stay focused. Thus, the “elders path”, i.e. the Theravada school was developed. It offers a clear means by which one can avoid participation in harmful activities and as such, reach the goal with fewer obstacles. When I consider this approach I think of those among us who cannot have “just one drink”, as it will quickly turn into ten and end in a mess of regretful engagements. For them, it is wise thus to not drink at all. Remove the source of the trouble. Calamity avoided. Liberation through skillful means.
In contrast however, The Anointed One, as Buddha is often referred to in certain corners of the Buddhist world, also could see that for some, they could manage to handle alcohol, and for that matter, sexuality, and any number of, as they call them in Catholicism, “deadly sins” without such acts preventing them from understanding Truth, and that in some instances such actions brought them even closer to it. As such, especially within the Vajrayana schools, not only were such actions more, shall we say, acceptable, but in special cases, they were even encouraged.
“The Path” itself, as the Buddha regularly made clear, is not the main event. The path is merely a means by which to get there, and it looks different to each traveler. It is fluid and presents itself on a case by case basis, through skillful means, usually offered to an aspiring student by an accomplished master. The teacher, ideally having developed a deep relationship with his/her students, knows intimately what each unique personality requires for them to genuinely understand the deepest meanings of what is being taught.
For some, a standardized test is enough to demonstrate understanding. For others, such a test means nothing more than, at best, an ability to temporarily memorize a handful of desired answers to vague, compartmentalized questions. Everyone is unique. As such each being requires a different cocktail. It is the responsibility of a qualified teacher to know what method is best for each student. And it is the responsibility of the student to do the work.
At this time in our collective human journey, as we homogenize everything from how we shop to how we grow food, attempting to simplify seemingly universal narratives into easily digestible and reproducible soundbites, it makes since that religions and educations would follow similar patterns too. We are what we eat, a product of our zeitgeist. And the modern Buddhist world is no different. To be sure, in most places of the world where Buddhism is the main religion, a trip to the temple now seems oddly similar to going to grade school in Illinois or to an evangelical church service in Indiana. The monks and their chants all offer a similar watered down narrative of “good” and “evil”, “right” and “wrong”, etc. and offer everyone the same handy narrative of how to avoid an eternity spent in “hell”. Humans tend to do this. It’s convenient. It simplifies otherwise overwhelming truths and as such, offers the warm fuzzy feeling that important teachings are easily accessible. This is not always a bad thing. And there is much to be gained from these approaches too. Yet, in grossly oversimplifying an infinitely wild, unfathomably complex reality into bite-sized pocket book histories-of-everything, we inevitably come to a place where we discover that the rules we were so convinced were indisputable law offer little guidance when met with the uncertain, ever-changing realities that eventually arise before us when compounded phenomena (i.e. everything) do as they do and, transform. No multiple choice exam can offer an appropriate transmission of Dhamma.
This is why the Buddha, being such a masterful teacher, was very clear to tell his disciples not to become too attached to “the path” but to analyze its relevance deeply, question it's methods regularly, observe how it applies to everyday circumstances in varying settings and once genuinely able to purely penetrate Truth and react to satori (insight) accordingly as such, to abandon the path entirely, as even it is subject to decay and change. If clung too for too long can, as all phenomena, it will do us more harm than good.
“Bhikkhus, the teaching is merely a vehicle to describe the truth. Don’t mistake it for the truth itself. A finger pointing at the moon is not
the moon. The finger is needed to know where to look for the moon, but if you mistake the finger for the moon itself, you will never know
the real moon.
The teaching is like a raft that carries you to the other shore. The raft is needed, but the raft is not the other shore. An intelligent person
would not carry the raft around on his head after making it across to the other shore. Bhikkhus, my teaching is the raft which can help you
cross to the other shore beyond birth and death. Use the raft to cross to the other shore, but don’t hang onto it as your property. Do not
become caught in the teaching. You must be able to let it go.”
―Thich Nhat Hanh. Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha
Clearly many of our hard fought for institutions are now shifting, if not decaying altogether. For those who have not developed a View, such as the one taught by Siddhartha Gautama and other great teachers, that makes it clear that nothing in this world is solid, that everything is by nature subject to change, than it will certainly come as a great shock when that which is held to be permanent no longer is. All things must pass, as the saying goes. What goes up, will surely come down. What is young will grow old. Empires will rise and fall and even the most widely accepted views will surely alter over time.
How fortunate we are to live in a time when such magical talking stones (some like to call them phones) can easily and instantly display for us information that mere decades ago was all but impossible to come into contact with. Yet as the great master Yoda once told an aspiring young Jedi, “Knowledge does not wisdom make.” It is up to us to decide how we use the resources we have acquired. It is up to us to determine how we will use the short time we are here given. There have been many great teachers, such as The Buddha, Muhammad, The Christ and others who showed us ways to Truth. Ultimately however, it is up to us to do the work.
May the life of all wise ones inspire you to live with more discipline, love and empathy.
May the force be with you.
འཕགས་པ་གསེར་གྱི་མདོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa gser gyi mdo zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Gold Sūtra”
Āryasuvarṇasūtranāmamahāyānasūtra
…
Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in the Jetavana, in the Park of Anāthapiṇḍada. At that time Venerable Ānanda asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, how should the mind of awakening be viewed?”
The Blessed One replied, “Venerable Ānanda, the mind of awakening should be viewed as being in nature like gold. Just as gold is pure by nature, so the mind of awakening is pure by nature. Just as a smith shapes gold into a multiplicity of forms, yet the nature of the gold does not change, although the mind of awakening may appear to have a variety of unique attributes, ultimately these never waver from the mind of awakening. Therefore, its nature does not change.”
Then the Blessed One proclaimed the following verse:
“The mind of awakening is pure.
Strive for the benefit of self and other.
Meditate on the insubstantial essence.
Be intent on what causes the birth of wisdom.”
The Blessed One spoke thus, and Venerable Ānanda, the entire retinue, and the world together with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised what the Blessed One had said.
This completes the noble Great Vehicle sūtra “The Gold Sūtra.”
*The Gold Sutra, generously offered as a result of countless hours of loving work by the good people at 84000.
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