gassho

Truth is One - the wise call it by many names.

Buddhism came my way sometime in the last 3 years of my life. Once is arrived a lot of things started making sense to me - all those 'sutras' my father had on his bookshelf, the buddhas around my house, the large collection of back issues of the Buddhist quarterly magazine Tricycle. There were things pointing me towards the teachings of the Buddha all my life but I hadn't noticed them until I was 18 years old.

When I started reading the teachings of the Buddha it was revelatory not because it transformed my views and thoughts but because it was like looking into a still pond and seeing my own reflection. I read and found that a lot of thoughts and feelings I'd had in my life had been discussed and refined by this amazing human being, and that his teachings contained a subtlety that immediately captured my respect and interest.

The Buddha's teachings have become such a part of me since then that I have a hard time participating in any kind of critical discussion of Buddhism. I don't really bring it up with people because I don't want others to view me through the lens of 'jimi the buddhist'. Maybe this isn't healthy. I'm not a missionary though and I don't want to convince anyone anything about Buddhism. If someone approachs me with an open mind and heart I will talk for days on end on the subject. I love talking with bhikkhus and people with a more casual interest in Buddhism.

"When pulled together
And bound, there stands
A hut well thatched:
But take it apart,
And we have the wilderness eternal."
-Anonymous

Buddhism is a doctrine and process of self realization. I do not say self realization as in Self with a capital S, in the Atman/Hindu sense, but self as in who You are, not who you should be or even would like to be. Going deep, deep beneath the levels of conditioning and even what we view as our 'nature' as defined by our parents/familial situation and genes, socio-economic position, nationality, etc. Going down to the core of ourselves to see who we really are and what this means for our interactions with other people and our life in general. Buddha-realization is self-realization. I would like to elaborate on the idea of Buddhism as a process.

"It is great joy to realize that the path to freedom that all the buddhas have trodden is ever existent, ever unchanged, and ever open to those who are prepared to enter upon it."
-Precepts of the Gurus

The idea of a doctrine as a process rather than a means to a definite end is one that does not occur in theistic, soteriological, salvation based religions. Buddhism is not an instant gratification religion. Jesus saves, Moses invests, but only Buddha pays dividends. Across lifetimes, across countless aeons. This is not a judgement of theistic religions, but it does speak to what you are looking for in life and religion. Buddhism is not about hope for the future, it is about taking care of the present moment.

My doctrine is to think the thought that is unthinkable, to practice the deed that is non-doing, to speak the speech that is inexpressible, and to be trained in the discipline that is beyond discipline. Those who understand this are near; those who are confused are far. The Way is beyond words and expressions, is bound by nothing earthly. Lose sight of it to an inch, or miss it for a moment and we are away from it forevermore
- Sutra of Forty Two Chapters

I believe truth is a process, an experience rather than an understanding or a conclusion. This is something you might be able to relate to in regards to your experience of music. Moments of transcendence that might be one thing in life you've tasted that you could describe as an experience of truth. It is not a coincidence that the music and mind expansion that occurred in the 1960s also gave rise to Buddhism and Eastern thought in the West.

Buddhism is an experiential religion. You will have a hard time understanding Buddhism unless you are interested in practicing it. No amount of words we write here are going to give you a proper feeling for what Buddhism is all about. As soon as you have reached a conclusion about a truth, you are stuck. You've put truth in a box, written words that are truth, and cut it off from it's most vital nutrient and source, which is our human experience.

A classic Zen example: If someone points at the moon, do not mistake their finger for the moon itself. Similarly, do not mistake words for truth itself. Truth is transcendant, beyond words, but not beyond human experience. You cannot rest in your practice of the Dharma. It is subtle and ever changing depending on the place and people you find yourself surrounded by. As soon as you say "aha, I've got it!", it has slipped through your fingers.

My Buddhist practice is not seperate from my life. It is not when I meditate, when I read Dogen, or contemplate signing up for a Vipassana retreat. I am not a Buddhist and yet I have been a Buddhist rhrough countless lives. Most Buddhas do not even know that they are Buddhas.

If enlightenment is not where you are standing, where will you look?

"Subhuti, what do you think? Has the Tathagata (Buddha) attained the consummation of incomparable enlightenment? Has the Tathagata a teaching to enunciate?

Subhuti answered: As I understand Buddh'as meaning there is no formulation of truth called consummation of incomparable enlightenment. Moreover, the Tathagata has no formulated teaching to enunciate. Wherefore? Because the Tathagata has said that truth is uncontainable and inexpressible. It neither is nor is not.

Thus it is that this unformulated principle is the foundation of the different systems of all the sages."
-The Diamond Sutra, Chapter 7