Spiritual Quest in Da West!
Spiritual Quest in Da West!
The everchanging around eternal emptiness
All phenomena are conditioned, i.e., they arise only from the existence of the requisite conditions. These conditions likewise arise out of their requisite conditions. All phenomena(matter, sense perceptions, feelings, thoughts, awareness) arise and fall away due to the rise and fall of conditions, which are arising and falling away. Our awareness of these conditions and of the nature of impermanence also rises and falls away due to the rising and falling away of the conditions for that awareness. The outer layer of phenomena is infinitely changing form, the inner is empty formlessness. Awareness is in constant flux, the content of the mind is in constant flux, the perceptions of the mind are in constant flux, the feelings in the body are in constant flux, the body itself is in constant flux, and the environment outside the body is in constant flux. The only unchanging aspect of all form is its constant change, thus the only reality of all form is its everchanging nature—an essence of emptiness.
“In the seen, there is only the seen,
in the heard, there is only the heard,
in the sensed, there is only the sensed,
in the cognized, there is only the cognized.
Thus you should see that
indeed there is no thing here;”
-excerpt from Buddha’s Teaching(circa 500 B.C.E.)
Without an awareness of impermanence and emptiness, we strive for the outer forms of phenomena. The tasty food, the attractive mate, the comfortable bed. Our greed and lust make us value fame, wealth, comfort, and sexual gratification. We believe there is something to be gained, that what we truly want is somewhere “out there”. But all these forms are empty. What we once chased with our mind, we now cling to when it starts to fall away, and then suffer when it is absent. We lose the present moment in the potential lead up to gratification, we lose ourselves in the gratification itself, and we again are lost in the yearning for the gratification after it goes away. Gratification is just another empty phenomena. Happiness is just another empty phenomena. It will arise and perish like every other form. If we can be steadfast in both pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, loss and gain, then we might achieve something even greater than happiness: serenity.
“Sin is the blurring of truth which clouds the purity of our consciousness. In sin we lust after pleasures, not because they are truly desirable, but because the red light of our passions makes them appear desirable; we long for things not because they are great in themselves, but because our greed exaggerates them and makes them appear great.”
― Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana : the realisation of life
“There are three gates leading to the hell of self-destruction for the soul—lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, one should abandon all three.”
-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 16, Verse 21
The mind has the capability to conjecture what lies outside itself and what is beyond its ability to bring into itself as content. It is a meta-truth, a system above ours, or outside, which governs ours. It is that which cannot be named or touched or sensed. This is the spiritual dimension. Curiosity in other species was an evolved adaptation to pay special attention to novel situations, potentially fruitful or harmful to the fitness function. Thanks to the endowment of other mental attributes, humans are the only animal that has curiosity about familiar situations(an idea from David Deutsch). That is what enabled the first meditator to introspect on the nature of the arising phenomena within his or her own mind. The meta-truth of the limitations of mind is why so many statements of wisdom are seemingly contradictory in nature. They speak to that which lies beyond the mind’s normal, linear comprehension; the two dimensional sequence of logic-gates ideas get churned through. But truth exists in more than two dimensions.
Seeing the true nature of phenomena, its emptiness and impermanence, brings with it the dissolution of our passions. Initially this may appear a great loss, as we in ‘da West’ have learned to live our lives by the rule of our passions. We have been taught by our family and culture to be slaves to our desires and aversions. We were led to believe in the solid reality of our emotions, and trained to attempt to manipulate outer forms, grasping for the positive emotions and fending off the negative. But it was nothing more than emptiness pursuing emptiness, or emptiness pushing away emptiness. We might feel despair realizing all pervading emptiness, for without anything to gain and no reason to hold onto anything, why do anything at all? This despair is what forces us to search for answers, to begin our spiritual quest. Our suffering is the path back home, to truth, to god; to self. Indeed, suffering is grace.
-The Slippery Spiritual Slope, pen and colored pencil on paper, 8.5”x11”, 2024
Now we get curious about emptiness. If emptiness were, say, blissful in nature, then things wouldn’t look so grim. But how can we know? Meditation is the act of coming into contact with the inner nature of phenomena, methodically pulling awareness out of the content of the mind. Mind noticing mind in infinite recursion. The finger pointing at the finger pointing. This is the beginning of true Self-realization, and the reason why the maxim “Know Thyself” was enshrined at the top of the Temple of Apollo in ancient Delphi. While perceptions come and go, you remain. While emotions rise and fall, you remain. While thoughts bubble up and burst, there you are. While awareness swims back and forth, you are here. Yet, where are you exactly? Search for the self, and nothing is there. Aha! Nothing. I AM NO THING.
“and you see that there is no thing here,
you will therefore see that
indeed there is no thing there.
As you see that there is no thing there,
you will see that
you are therefore located neither in the world of this,
nor in the world of that,
nor in any place
betwixt the two.
This alone is the end of suffering.”
-further excerpt from same Buddha’s Teaching