January 17, 2018 2:17 AM PST
Hi James,Thanks for your thoughtful response. I think a good starting point is to use our own experience as a guide to help us see clearly that: there is the way things appear to be, and there is the way things are. What I mean by that is we have to careful when apparent insights or observations arise for us in thought. Sometimes these can seem true and right but until full awakening there will always be a degree of bias, based on conditioning, of all views, thoughts and ideas. It takes quite a lot of subtlety to notice this at times.I say this to start with because spiritual rules or guidelines can be helpful to us and support us but when we grasp at these the mind easily runs to absolutes. We can imagine perfect but in practice there is no perfect, and it's important to see that. In terms of the 'do nothing' vs 'spiritually evolve' stances it's very hepful if we can track conversations and viewpoints in terms of their frame of reference. For example from the point of view of the Absolute, or what in Zen Buddhism might be called The Unborn, then yes there is nothing to do, nothing to attain, nothing is broken, nothing needs fixing. All of this is true - from that perspective. But we all know that this human experience takes place on a number of levels and we are required to adopt a range of perspectives. So if we look at the day to day experience of people suffering cruelty or injustice then these insights are no help at all. In this case what we endeavour to do is lead an ethical and moral life as this will have an effect on everyone with whom we interact, and also to conduct ourselves in ways to do our best not to support cruelty or oppression for example by how we vote, how we shop, the day to day lifestyle choices we make.It's not entirely true to say that none of these choices and actions have any impact on our spiritual life and awakening. They do and the reason for that comes down to our motivation and intention. If we seek awakening but act in a way that supports the ego or 'self' over the needs of others, then even though from an absolute perspective there are no 'self' or 'others' the principle we're applying is still tending to benefit 'self' and so reinforces this viewpoint. Whereas if you think about it, ethical conduct has its basis in the realisation that 'all is one' and self view tends to be less present in these actions, which in turn weakens it and support the process of awakening. However, what about the conduct of others? Well it's worth taking time to inquire to what extent the judging mind is attemtping to set us and our principles above those who appear to act differently - this tendency reinforces the 'me', or can we simply observe, 'I act this way, you act that way', without any judgement? It's true that we're all in this together but we can't make rules for the conduct of others. Their actions reflect their degree of clarity/awakening and so for that to change they need to see more clearly; to be more awake. So how can we support that? By being awake ourselves and by living that.You're absolutely right that from the awakened perspective there is not a preference for the Unborn over the conditioned as such, it's not that one is better, one worse. They are both aspects of This, of this human experience. But there is a tendency for awareness to remain as Unborn or perhaps we could say a tendency for it not to be born. So as we chant in Buddhism the awakened one 'is not born again into this world', but this does not refer to the birth of a baby, but to the tendency to be born into the conditoned experience as part of that, taking a position relative to it. This tendency to the Unborn is not something forced or acted out willfully, it's simply the way things unfold; it's the way awakening unfolds. Now interestingly, what happens in practice is that life brings us less conflict and adversity as we slip back from the 'born'. So then hypothetical situations about, 'what would an awakened view of this be?' aren't as applicable as they appear because although it may appear that such things could happen, in practice we find they don't tend to. Mind wants to grasp this but that's just mind doing it's thing, it's what it does, and we see this and let it go. Quite a lot of this is about noticing the movement of thought: seeing it and letting it go. Much of the rest is the quality of patience - right now, it is this way. This is not a resigned acceptance that means we cannot act, but it is a realisation that our actions don't need to be the result of resistance to the way it is, but instead can flow from seeing clearly how it is.Take care,Andrew
