The Buddha Times

Turning to Cold Mountain

Volume 32. October 17, 2022

Han Shan (“Cold Mountain”) was a Chinese Buddhist figure associated with a collection of poems from the Tang Dynasty. When he lived, who he was, and whether he existed is a mystery.

Apparently, he lived alone in an empty cave on Cold Mountain, following the Way, harmonizing with the eternal Tao, meditating. He spent his days in seclusion and simplicity, writing poems.

Here is a sample of his work:

In my house there is a cave,

and in the cave is nothing at all —

pure and wonderfully empty,

resplendent, with a light like the sun.

A meal of greens will do for this old body,

a ragged coat will cover this phantom form.

Let a thousand saints appear before me —

I have the Buddha of Heavenly Truth.

Buddhism is an attempt to describe the Indescribable, to tell the Untellable, to fathom the Unfathomable, to say the Unsayable. Buddhism is a realization of Oneness.

But beware of making Oneness an idea. It’s not something that can be rationalized, compartmentalized and categorized.

Oneness is a reality that can only be experienced, intuitively, for each individual by himself or herself.

Once a student said, “I’ve been reading that Jesus and Buddha were enlightened individuals, but their enlightenment was different.”

That’s impossible.

Perhaps their expression of enlightenment was different, but not the actual experience.

Enlightenment is a sudden, tacit understanding of the non-dual nature of reality.

Oneness is One, not Two.

That student was under the impression that in meditation something happens. You magically morph from monster to master. Meditation somehow transforms titmice into titans.

The truth is, in meditation, nothing happens.

In meditation, one realizes the Wallpaperness of Whatever-Is-Before-Your-Face, the Actual Sameness, the Perpetual Potential, the Golden October Radiance, the This-Cannot-Be-Taught-ness.”

Words cannot go there. The tongue cannot touch it. To pollute Prajna with thoughts and labels and categories is to slander it.

The world is full of noise. Silence is the perfect sound.

If you want suffering, there’s plenty more where that came from.

But in Buddhism, boredom is bliss.

Someday, it will all end up on Cold Mountain, like Han Shan, in silence, in simplicity, in radiance, in bliss … in Oneness.

And when that happens, despite whatever religion you follow, you too will have the Buddha of Heavenly Truth.

Don’t Worry About A Thing

Volume 31. September 4, 2022

Monumental complainer Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Henry IV bellowed, “I were better to be eaten to death with a rust than to be scoured to nothing with perpetual motion!”

In our fast-paced society, sometimes we all need a rest.

Meditation provides serenity, peace, calm and tranquility.

But even during peaceful periods of meditation our minds seem to be “scoured to nothing with perpetual motion.”

Thoughts, doubts, worries, anxieties, plans, schemes, agendas — there is no end to our demented deliberations and ruinous ruminations. Consciousness is a cacophony.

Perhaps the most insidious parasite of peace is worry.

As soothing summer shifts into agitated autumn, worry bugs nibble away at our repose. Preying on our mind, niggling away, bedeviling any balm, worry turn us into warts.

Spiritual giants have tackled this tough problem.

Jesus Christ advised, “Which of you by worrying can add a moment to your lifespan? Learn a lesson from the wild flowers. They neither spin nor sow, but I assure you that even Solomon in all his splendor was not arrayed like one of these.”

Rastafarian Bob Marley was more succinct. Bob sang, “Don’t worry about a thing. Oh, every little thing gonna be all right.”

Jack Kerouac hit the nail on the head. “There’s nothing to worry about. And to worry about no-thing ain’t worry.”

Whatever we see, feel, hear, smell, taste, and think about resembles an illusion. We mistake a dream-like state for reality. We brood over this false reality. Result: Continued suffering, anxiety, lost sleep, agony and unease … over nothing!

How can we get back to what is really real?

Meditate.

You don’t have to be a Buddhist monk or a zen master to be aware of your breath.

Set aside dream-like thoughts of unreality. Banish the demons.

Enjoy nirvana.

I asked my daughter if she is nervous about starting fourth grade. She fretted, “Yes. Last year some fourth grade boys went into the girls’ bathroom. It might happen again.”

Cute, but no-thing to lose sleep over.

When we allow our minds to dwell on difficulty and troubles, we stew, brood and agonize. When we perceive that all things are empty, we return to peace.

Twenty-five centuries worth of Buddhist peace can’t be wrong.

As Falstaff put it:

“Hal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse.”

Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra

Volume 30. August 2, 2022

The Lotus Sutra is one of the world’s great religious scriptures. Its influence on the history of Buddhism, like an ancient river, has been wide and deep.

The Lotus Sutra proclaims the transcendental nature of the Buddha (the Buddha is not only man, but a god) and the doctrine of universal liberation (we can all become Buddhas).

It also spells out the bodhisattva path.

A bodhisattva is literally one whose “being is enlightenment.”

The way to enlightenment comes from perfecting six virtues: generosity, patience, diligence, morality, meditation and wisdom.

The Lotus Sutra is extensive, comprising twenty-eight chapters. One line from chapter five perhaps sums up the bodhisattva path, and distinguishes the character of a Buddha: