The Merest Shimmer of Thought

Since stillness is our permanent true nature, it is the goal of our practice to return to stillness. This seems simple enough on the surface. We just need to calm our minds down until they are tranquil. Reading this and noticing the thoughts that come and go, we might tell ourselves, okay just one thought after another, I can do this, I can eliminate these thoughts.

But the reality is that the thoughts we notice are only the most obvious ones, the tip of the iceberg so to speak.

Our thoughts are vibrations. The ones we are aware of are, in actuality, far from representative of the majority. The ones we notice are akin to the shattering of the sound barrier—an immense sonic boom that can be detected for miles. Like a mental sonic boom, the vibrations from these thoughts of ours can even be detected by those near us.

For example, as an angry person walks by, you might well feel like you are encountering a wall of anger the vibrations are so strong. These are the thoughts that we are most familiar with. The ones as clear the conversations we hold in our heads.

But these are by no means the only thoughts we have. Actually there are many more thoughts in any moment. As the Buddha explained, we have over a trillion thoughts in the time it takes to snap our fingers. Yes, that many.

How often have you sensed a thought but were unable to grasp it. It was gone so quickly that you were aware of it’s arising but could not determine what it was. You just sensed that something had been in your mind. And then it was gone, impossible to recall. From here the thought vibrations become finer and finer until they get to the point that only an enlightened being can detect them. They are the merest of vibrations, a mere shimmer of thought, beyond our ability to even imagine.

So it turns out that there are uncountable degrees of increasingly subtle thoughts, of subtle vibrations. It’s not possible to wrestle them into oblivion one at a time since we can’t even detect them. Instead, we need to focus the mind through our meditative concentration. By doing this, we will change the state of our mind so the thoughts, the vibrations, very gradually cease to arise.

Wisdom from the Master

• Today, people might ask, “Why should I help others?” They do not understand the true re­ality of life and the universe, thinking others and they are not one, so why should they help? This is similar to one’s left hand being bitten by a mosquito. Would the right hand help to shoo away the mosquito or would it ask, “Why should I help the left hand, it isn’t me?” As worldly people, we have deluded thoughts and behavior, not realizing that all sentient beings and we are one entity.

• We are born to receive our karmic results that we have previously planted. Our good karmas result in comfort and happiness. Our bad karmas result in hardship. But how many people willingly receive and accept these consequences? If we are unwilling to accept the results from our past karmic deeds then we are in the process of creating new karmas.

• Trying to achieve awakening through two different methods is like trying to enter the cultivation hall through two different doors. It cannot be done.

• The Buddha appeared in this world for one reason: to light the lamp of truth, thus to lead us away from the darkness of our own ignorance.

• The Buddha's light spreads throughout the universe. What about us? Our wandering, deluded and deviated thoughts likewise spread throughout the universe.

• The mind of a Buddha is like still water. It can sense the slightest vibration from our mind. Our minds are so agitated that we cannot even tell when we are hit by a major thought wave.

• In life after life we have had relationships with all sentient beings. Some are good affinities; some are bad. We encounter beings who are easy to be with. This is due to the good affinity we previously planted. We also encounter beings who are difficult to be with. This is due to the bad affinity we previously planted because we were confused and deluded. But now we know how to resolve these bad affinities through filial piety and respect.

• One then should not attach to either good or bad deeds, because good would have one go to the upper three realms (heavens, As­uras and humans), and bad karma to the lower three realms (animals, hungry ghosts and hells). However, whichever way, we are still mired in reincarna­tion.

• To be patient is not just to be patient with others but to be patient with our own practice as well.

• Stillness is our true permanent nature. We practice concentration to return to this stillness.

• Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are around us all the time. In our lives when we encounter hardships someone may walk by and give us exactly the advice we needed to hear. If we ask them why they said it, they would say they didn't know. This is how Buddhas and Bodhisattvas help us.

~ Based on the teachings of Venerable Master Chin Kung

And Tomorrow?

If we live as though there is no tomorrow,

there will be no tomorrow.

I Wish You Enough

A story that was sent to me goes as follows:

Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said "I love you and ‘I wish you enough.’” The daughter replied, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom." They kissed and the daughter left.

The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?"

"Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking but why is this a forever goodbye?"

"I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral" she said.

"When you were saying goodbye, I heard you say 'I wish you enough' May I ask what that means?"

She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more. "When we said 'I wish you enough' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them."

Then turning toward me she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory: “I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye. She then quietly walked away.

A wish for us all; not too much, not too little, but just enough.

Lest We Blame Others

Somewhere recently I read the story of how the writer had awakened to his role in the Exxon Valdez oil spill, considered to be one of the most devastating man-made environmental disasters ever to occur at sea. The writer of the story had flown to Europe to attend a conference for his work. He had gone for dinner at a nearby restaurant where he was having a drink while waiting for a table. On the television over the bar, he saw the news report that the Exxon Valdez had run aground in Alaska and of how her oil was rapidly spilling out into the remote and pristine Prince William Sound.

The news reporter said it was reported that the captain had been drinking and left the ship in the control of a third mate and that this was believed to have been the cause of the shipping disaster. But the writer, looking in the mirror over the bar, looked into his own eyes and saw only himself. And he realized that he had also contributed to this disaster.

He had flown to Europe in a plane powered by petroleum. Every day he drove alone in his car to the office where he worked. Many of the products he purchased were petroleum based and all were delivered to the store in trucks run on petroleum. As he gazed into his own eyes in that mirror above the bar, he found that he was to blame as well. If he did not fly, drive, and consume so much then Exxon and the other oil companies wouldn't be transporting so much petroleum and increasing the risk for such terrible tragedies.

This story came back to me when I read about the bush fires earlier this month in Victoria, Australia. There were reports of arsonists having started some of the fires in which 210 people have now died, uncountable animals were burned to death or severely injured and hectares burned. Arsonists, drought, almost no rain in the last few months, record-breaking temperatures were all cited as possible causes, but the very real possibility of arsonists seemed to catch much of the public's attention. One man who was arrested as a possible arsonist had to be moved to another location for his own safety. People were understandably shocked and infuriated that human beings could have deliberately set some of the fires. Then on February 20th, ABC News, Australia, reported  that "the Climate Institute and firefighters say Victoria's blazes were the result of climate change."

There have always been mentally-unbalanced people who set fires, but this time it was different. This time there was a twelve-year drought that resulted in the highest fire risk rating recorded in Victoria, if not Australia.

It wasn't just arsonists. It wasn't just bush fires as usual in Australia. It wasn't just a freak coming together of high winds and little rain.

It was us. Every one of us. Every one of us who flies or drives or takes a train. Every one of us who uses electricity to heat or cool their home, who eats meat or dairy products produced on a factory farm, who buys toys and clothing and technological marvels made somewhere else, who shops at a supermarket and buys food that has traveled an average of 1500-2000 miles to get to the store. Every one of us who consumes more than our fair share.

We have each contributed to Black Saturday.

We are each to blame.