Day 2 - Teaching 2- The Great Way/ Faith Mind Poem

Okay, so I'm going to talk a little bit
about what's been called the negative

path or the the Via Negativa. So it's
where we come to understand who we are

by seeing and realizing what we are not.

So in the Vedic tradition sometimes they
have this term Netti netti, which means

not this, not that. And so we we come to
see what we are by recognizing the false

self in all of its different incarnations.
So what is that, what is that false self?

What is the ego?

There are many ways to bring it into focus
bring it into Clarity, but one way

I like to talk about it. is beginning when
we're a little kid. If you think about

a little kid, that luminosity coming from
the eyes and that aliveness and that

engagement with life, It's just a very 
natural sort of direct connection to life

when we're a little kid. The ego hasn't
been cultivated yet. And then what happens

is that experiences are sort of
overwhelming or there's a charge to the

experiences of the the little kid. So
these experiences create a resistance

within that self structure within the
body, the body mind.

And that resistance gets wired in over 
time. So these charges happen and

sometimes the charge is a big charge,
in the the case of a trauma you know,

it can be some very deep wiring, sometimes
they're just repetitive patterns that just

get wired in. And so these resistances
in the body create this wiring for

patterns of craving and aversion. So over
the child learns 'I want this I don't

want that' and there can be behaviors that
get created as the child gets positive

feedback from the world. So they learn
if they behave a certain way then they

get approval you know, they behave a
different way then they get scolded.

So they learn to move in a certain way,
they start to change their their natural

behavior and they start to behave
according to other people's expectations

or the world's expectations. They create
this false Persona in order to pacify that

craving or or to get rid of something that
feels uncomfortable.

And so, we craft this false self, this
false persona. And so that false self

is nothing but resistance to what is.
It's literally, if you think about wiring,

or in science they have these things
called Lichtenberg figures, where they're

patterns that electricity makes when it
hits something. So the the electricity

hits something and it creates almost like
a little tree of branching patterns and

so you you see when when electricity or
energy hits something it creates these

pathways. And it and it looks like neural
pathways, it looks just like what you see

in the mind. And the whole universe
is made up of that, you know.

When we look at the you know dark matter
in the universe with one of those

supercomputers... The Max Plank Institute
did this this big thing called the

'Millennium Run' with a supercomputer,
and you can see that the universe is made

up of these same patterns. The dark
matter forms what look like neuron

pathways through the universe.
So everything is this one mind.

And the experience of being separate, to
be a separate being is this resistance,

some form of resistance to what is.
So one of the biggest forms of resistance

in life is our preferences that we have,
the preferences really tie us to the ego

structure. So I have a little teaching that
comes from the Zen tradition, it's

about 15 minutes long and it's called
'The Great Way' or sometimes it's called

the 'Faith Mind Poem' and it really cuts
to the heart of what ties us to the ego.

It's a really beautiful non dual teaching
and really makes it clear how these

preferences of choosing one thing over
another, you know, judging as right and

wrong all of these things, we become
attached to those things and that forms

an ego and then we we think we're that.
I am this person who has this belief, or

this affiliation, or this moral code, or
whatever it is, anything can become an

attachment. So I'm going to read this,
and I might pause along the way at certain

points. There's certain things in here
that are particularly relevant for

meditation practice as well.
So I might Point those things out.

So this is the great way and this 
was written by one of the founders of

Chan Buddhism which is the 
the Chinese version of Zen, basically.

The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.

When Love and Hate are both absent,
everything becomes clear and undisguised.

Make the smallest distinction however, and
heaven and Earth are set infinitely apart.

If you wish to see the truth, then hold no
opinions for or against anything.

So when it says love and hate are both
absent and everything becomes clear and

undisguised, it's not saying to become an
unloving person. It's talking about the

duality of love and hate good and bad so
some spiritual teachers talk about Divine

love as our natural state, so it's not
talking about that, it's talking about

the polarity the Judgment. I love this
I hate that. That kind of duality.

When the deep meaning of things is not
understood, the mind's essential peace

is disturbed to no avail.

The Way is perfect, like vast space,
where nothing is lacking and nothing

is in excess. Indeed, it is due to our
choosing, to accept or reject, that

we do not see the true nature of things.

Live neither in the entanglements of outer
things nor in inner feelings of emptiness.

Be serene in the Oneness
of things and such erroneous views

will disappear by themselves. When you try
to stop activity, to achieve passivity

your very effort fills you with activity.

As long as you remain in one extreme or
the other, you will never know Oneness.

Those who do not live in the single way
fail in both activity and passivity,

assertion and denial.

To deny the reality of things, is to miss
their reality.

To assert the emptiness of things
is to miss their reality.

The more you talk and think about it, the
further astray you wander from the truth.

Stop talking and thinking, and there is
nothing you will not be able to know.

To return to the root is to find the
meaning, but to pursue appearances is

to miss the source. At the moment of inner
enlightenment, there is a going beyond

appearance and emptiness. The changes
that appear to occur in the empty world we

call real, only because of our ignorance.

so in meditation you know often we
get this idea that we have to somehow move

beyond thoughts, you know. To come to
this emptiness but the truth is you know

the nondual state is not one or the other.
That Duality actually falls away.

So I I'm going to be reading the heart
Sutra tomorrow and it says form is exactly

emptiness, emptiness is exactly form and
that's what they're getting at here.

So the the non-dual truth is beyond these
dualities. There actually is no form and

emptiness. There's no such thing as either.
It's just the Mind construct.

It's our concept, that creates these
dualities.

Do not search for the truth.
Only cease to cherish opinions.

Do not remain in the dualistic state.
Avoid such pursuits carefully.

If there is even a trace of this and that,
of right and wrong, the Mind Essence

will be lost in confusion.

Although all dualities come from the One,
do not be attached even to this One.

When the Mind exists undisturbed in the
Way, nothing in the world can offend,

and when a thing can no longer offend
it ceases to exist in the old way.

When no discriminating thoughts arise
the old mind ceases to exist.

When thought objects vanish
the thinking subject vanishes.

As when the Mind vanishes, objects vanish.
Things are objects because of the subject.

The mind is such because of things.
Understand the relativity of these two

and the basic reality; the unity of
emptiness. In this emptiness the two are

indistinguishable and each contains
in itself the whole world.

If you do not discriminate between course
and fine, you will not be tempted to

prejudice and opinion.

To live in the Great Way is neither easy
nor difficult, but those with limited

views are fearful and irresolute.
The faster they hurry the slower they go,

and clinging cannot be limited. Even to be
attached to the idea of Enlightenment

is to go astray. Just let things be in
their own way and there will be neither

coming nor going.

Obey the nature of things and you will
walk freely and undisturbed. When thought

is in bondage the truth is hidden,
for everything is murky and unclear,

and the burdensome practice of judging
brings annoyance and weariness.

What benefit can be derived from
distinctions and separations?

If you wish to move in the One Way,
do not dislike even the world of

senses and ideas. Indeed to accept them
fully is identical with true enlightenment

The wise person strives toward no goals
but the foolish person fetters themselves.

There is one Dharma not many.
Distinctions arise from the clinging

needs of the ignorant. To seek mind with
the discriminating mind,

is the greatest of all mistakes.

This is a really important line. I want to
highlight this line. To seek mind, Mind

with a capital M to seek the self, to seek
our true nature with the discriminating

mind, with the egoic mind, with the
character, is the greatest of all mistakes

and this is what we highlight over and
over in self- inquiry. Somehow we

recognize that which is already present.
So anything that we're seeking for,

anything that conditioned mind is seeking
for, it's looking around for something,

focused on the realm of thoughts and
sensations, but awareness is always

already present. So we give up that
seeking. We relax into presence and

recognize what is already present.

Rest and unrest derive from illusion. With
Enlightenment there is no liking

and disliking. All dualities come from
ignorant inference.

They are like dreams or flowers in the air
foolish to try to grasp them.

Gain and loss, right and wrong; such
thoughts must finally be abolished at once

If the eye never sleeps all dreams will
naturally cease. If the Mind makes

no distinctions, the ten thousand
things are as they are; of single essence.

To understand the mystery of this One
Essence is to be released from

all entanglements.

When all things are seen equally
the timeless self essence is reached.

No comparisons or analogies are possible
in this causeless, relationless state.

Consider movement stationary and the
stationary in motion, and both movement

and rest disappear.

When such dualities cease to exist,
Oneness itself cannot exist.

To this ultimate finality, no law
or description applies.

For the unified mind, in accord with the
Way, all self-centered striving ceases.

Doubts and irresolutions vanish,
and life in true faith is possible.

And when they say life in true Faith...
Sometimes this is called The Beginner's

mind poem. so there's some interest
translation things going on here.

So when they say the faith mind,
or beginner mind what they're talking

about is a mind that is in direct
connection with life.

So it's like a beginner's mind it's not
filtering through the past conditioning

but we experience directly.

With a single stroke we are freed from
bondage. Nothing clings to us and we

hold to nothing. All is empty, clear,
self-illuminating, with no exertion

of the mind's power. Here thought, feeling
knowledge and imagination are of no value.

In this world of suchness, there is
neither self nor other than self.

To come directly into harmony with this
reality, just simply say when doubt

arises: "not two". In this "not two"
nothing is separate,

nothing is excluded.

No matter when or where, enlightenment
means entering this truth.

And this truth is beyond extension
or diminution in time or space.

In it, a single thought is ten thousand
years. Emptiness here, ,emptiness there.

But the infinite universe stands always
before your eyes. Infinitely large and

infinitely small, no difference.

For definitions have vanished
and no boundaries are seen.

So too with being and non-being. Don't
waste time in doubts and arguments that

have nothing to do with this. One thing,
all things, move among and intermingle

without distinction. To live in this
realization is to be without anxiety about

non-perfection. To live in this faith or
beginners mind, is the road to non-duality

because the non-dual is one with the
trusting mind.

Words! The way is beyond language,
for in it there is no yesterday,

no tomorrow, and no today.

so not going to say much about that I'll
just let it land. One thing that

sometimes comes up for people is this idea
of no preferences you do we live life with

no preferences. The Awakening that
happens is just simply a flip from that

conditioned I. That character where all
the preferences reside, to the

unconditioned or the the true self. So in
that sense you know nothing changes like

when we're in that Samadhi state, the
character goes on, doing whatever it's

doing, it can do whatever it wants, it
could have preferences, no preferences

but it has nothing to do with the true I.
The true I is free, has always been free

from those preferences. So people think
if I awaken, I'm not going to enjoy

chocolate anymore, I'm not going to pick
my favorite tea. That's not true.

The character will always do what it does
If a special diet is required for that body

to be optimal it's still going to choose
that diet. Nothing changes in that sense

But in the the sense of I, you could say
'I have no preferences'. When that flip

happens, we know where those preferences
reside. So it's an interesting thing that

nothing has to change in the world upon 
Awakening. Everything is exactly as it is