Posted on Jan 31, 10 at 07:15 PM
I have been reflecting for a while on an article that appeared in the New York Times entitled “Therapists Report Increase in Green Disputes.” Though not documented by any known research, the article asserts that psychologists and other therapists are seeing more couples and families who complain of having serious conflicts over environmental and sustainability issues. I posted a comment on Twitter suggesting that deep mindfulness could alleviate such suffering that is a result of fixations and fear. Here I am using the notion of “Green Arguments” as a vehicle for looking at fixations.
It is important to know, of course, how the word fixation is being used here. Wikipedia defines a psychological fixation as “the state in which an individual becomes obsessed with an attachment to another human… or an inanimate object.” In the archaic world of psychoanalysis, it refers to an arrested stage of psychic development. My use of the term is quite different from either of these, and follows Peter Fenner’s definition, which he draws from the Madhyamaka tradition of Buddhism where the Sanskrit word drshti means “fixed opinion or belief.” And thus he says, “Fixation occurs whenever we take a rigid and inflexible position about any aspect of our experience.”1
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Posted on Dec 09, 09 at 11:57 AM
A recent piece in the New York Times reports on research that suggests children as young as 12 month’s old show an inclination to be helpful in various age appropriate ways (Thank you to MaryAnn Kraus, Psy.D. for pointing out the article). From my reading of it, it is not clear that the data would allow one to say whether our early tendency to help and cooperate with others is learned or innate. Nevertheless, it is striking to see such behavior in children who are pre-verbal or just beginning to learn to talk.
As I read the article, I began to think about how this research might relate to natural wisdom, the idea that when we have a personal problem or issue that we need to solve, or even an opportunity to help one another, we find that we usually know everything that we need to know to do what we need to do. This notion is supported by teachings in many contemporary contemplative traditions, especially those based in Buddhist schools of thought.
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Posted on Oct 08, 09 at 11:07 PM
Why do we try to understand our minds or travel a spiritual path? People will offer a wide variety of answers but they pretty much can be reduced to a desire to know who we are (i.e., understand ourselves or know our purpose in life) and a wish to find ways to bring greater ease and tranquility into our lives. Fortunately these two typically coexist—knowing who we truly are, our essence so to speak, offers us greater ease and peace.
The essence of who we are, in different contemplative traditions is variously referred to as original mind, natural mind, true nature, true self and even Buddha-nature. Giving our true nature a name is one way of pointing to it, but that is the easy part. Actually explaining what we mean by any of those terms and giving them a conceptual description is quite difficult and many would say it is even impossible.
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Posted on Aug 17, 09 at 01:51 PM
In last Sunday’s New York Times there was an article in the “Happy Days” blog section by a Zen practitioner that caught my eye. What really stood out for me was his portrayal of Zen practice. The experience was described as grueling and the practice as intense and relentless, not to mention that it requires long hours and can be physically and emotionally uncomfortable. Those were his words and only part of what he had to say. Typically I would let this go as another example of Macho Zen1. But as I thought about it, it occurred to me that for many people who are looking for a contemplative practice to help them deal more effectively with life’s issues, Zen is frequently the practice they have heard about. And essays like the foregoing don’t offer much insight, hope or encouragement.
For the various teachers and scholars I have learned from or whose work I have studied, grueling, intense and relentless struggle is antithetical to the various practices they teach. And personally, I deeply value the ideal that my practice should be consistent with the end point I am seeking. Even if what I am seeking, as some might point out, is something I already possess!
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Posted on Aug 10, 09 at 08:17 PM
For this first blog post on my new website I want to pay a tribute to Stephen Batchelor who was first to offer me a way to appreciate the deep value in Buddhist teachings through his 1997 book Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening. This book helped me immediately by providing an understanding of Buddhism, unencumbered by the religious beliefs that so often seemed to conceal the underlying truths. In addition, Stephen presented his material in a way that allowed the reader to easily grasp its profundity as well as its simple practicality.
Although I am most grateful for the door that was opened for me, it is the practicality that continues to live with me. Stephen frequently referenced the pragmatic analogy of holding things lightly and loosening our figurative grip on ourselves and our lives. In his chapter on compassion, for example, he says, “Through both disciplined meditation and ongoing reflective inquiry, we can loosen the grip in which habitual perceptions of self and others hold us.” I use this idea frequently because it applies so well to many of the ways in which we tend to struggle with life and cause ourselves and others to suffer.
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