5 Oct

Foundations

Posted by kjnelan in Series | Tags :, , |

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The essence of all being is pure existence, but for those of us who are human, it is a concept with which we have yet to familiarize ourselves or even begin to understand.  We banter about and excite ourselves when we come closer to an understanding of any of the metaphysical concepts, but we ultimately lose ourselves in all of the various rules and regulations forced upon us by those who organize and control the varying religions. Even those who have broken away from the organized, themselves organize or try to bring order to the purity of existing and they too fall short of the development of the self, succumbing to power, control, and avarice.

Surprisingly, no one seems to see the endless cycle of mind over mind, and will over will.  Instead, they break away anew and begin again, and again, and sometimes without ceasing, all the while looking for the very thing from which they are running.

It’s the latter part of that thought that has me quite captivated lately.  I do see the endless cycle and almost became a part of it by breaking away, and restarting under a new flag, or beginning my own, but why should I do either?  There already exists the timeless energies of being that I could run with, but there is a common thread through all the control and mongering that everyone seems to latch onto and so I choose to follow these two concepts as a sort of foundation for any belief system to which I may later attach.

Detachment

The first of these two concepts is that of detachment.  It’s the easiest for me because I have lived my life not owning anything.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve bought a great many things throughout my life, but I’ve always lived by the concept that I am merely using them for a time, then they’ll go off and be used by someone else.  I literally gave away both my businesses in Los Angeles to my business managers without any regrets or second thoughts.  They needed the start in life, and I had made my living honestly, and had a nice savings, so it seemed like the right thing to do.  Literally anything I have, I am free to give away at any time.  It’s a liberating and freeing feeling that allows me to have the finer things in life, and not be attached to them in any way what so ever.

The concept of detachment is nothing new to me, but I also learned at an early age that detachment is something other than just the corporeal attachments we have, it’s also the spiritual, mental, and emotional.  These are the aspects of detachment I have great personal difficulty with and must learn to temper as I’m sure many others must do as well.

I do have an emotional attachment to my wife and my friends.  Those are things I could not easily give up and while I have given up dear friends in the past, a couple of the letting go’s had emotional consequences which were personally devastating.  Others were easier to give up due to given situations and required little in the way of “getting over” those relationships.  Others I simply pity as they are obviously lost and find more comfort in letting others control and manipulate.

I still find it difficult to detach from my morals and ethical principles and so I choose to allow myself to be overcome with passion regarding issues of morality and social justice.  Because of my inability to detach regarding certain issues, I once wrote a very passionate piece against racism due to a person at my school who used race as a means of judging me and my qualifications for a thing.  The piece was, I admit, very strong and… passionate, but one individual chose to take it way out of context and act on his own interpretation rather than asking questions and seeking the truth.  Instead he became a violent and intolerant; the very things he taught others to avoid.  Because of his inability to detach from his concept of control, he had no clue who or what I was talking about, never bothered to ask, and launched into his own personal campaign to destroy another person, regardless of his own teachings.

I can honestly say, I have detached from him and his ways.  He is no longer a part of me, or anything I hold sacred and dear.  He is simply someone for whom I will hold some degree compassion, and the rest I will simply let go of and give to the universe to deal with once and for all.  At some point in my life, I may even detach from my need to expose the scoundrels that teach others the way of anger and hatred, but for now, I can at least recognize who and what I truly am, and can accept within myself, the truth of my own being: that I am passionate and need to temper that passion with understanding and compassion for those who are… not so understanding or compassionate.

So detachment then, becomes an important thing to work on and truly experience, but when tempered with the understanding that I don’t own my own emotions and no one else has control over them, then I am able to let go of those things which bind me to fear, anger, and opposition, and focus on those things which bring me peace and fulfillment.  I don’t technically don’t own any of the feelings, they simply exist within me, I experience them and then move on to the next experience.  My family and friends are a source of peace and contentment and so I allow myself to experience their fullness and move on to the next experience.

Compassion

Defined, compassion is:

Com*pas”sion, n. [F., fr. L. compassio, fr. compati to have compassion; com- + pati to bear, suffer. SeePatient.]
Literally, suffering with another; a sensation of sorrow excited by the distress or misfortunes of another; pity; commiseration. [1913 Webster]

Such strong words for such a simple term, but completely lacking in any real example of usability. Let’s try the following:

“It is defined as that which makes the heart of the good quiver when others are subject to suffering, or that which dissipates the suffering of others.” [Nårada Mahåthera, The Buddha and His Teachings (BPS, 1988), p372.]
“Compassion is a virtue which uproots the wish to harm others. It makes people so sensitive to the sufferings of others and causes them to make these sufferings so much their own that they do not want to further increase them.” [Edward Conze, Buddhist Thought in India, 1960, Ch.6.]

“This (compassion) isn’t self-pity or pity for others. It’s really feeling one’s own pain and recognizing the pain of others. Seeing the web of suffering we’re all entangled in, we become kind and compassionate to one another.” [ Joseph Goldstein, The Experience of Insight (BPS, 1980),  pp. 125-26.]

That, I understand. I can see how compassion then is the feeling inside of us which connects us, one to the other, into a single beating heart, in unison with the Universal rhythm.  It is the recognition of self in those around us.  It is the understanding we are not alone in this universe and share our existence with other entities and singularities of thought.  While independent of others, I am inextricably connected to the whole, the great, the one energy of being.  When I hurt others around me, I am hurting myself.  Compassion then is the understanding and moral acceptance of the act of love; true love for another being, entity, or energy.  It is the binding energy of the universe which allows me to see my connectedness to all things including the “divine” energy of being.

The concept of Compassion has long been equated to Buddhism, but with little understanding as to the reason.  “The foundation for any spiritual progress within Buddhism is the Five Precepts. Rites, rituals, ascetic practices, and devotional offerings are all subservient to the morality they stress. Compassion for the life, feelings, and security of others is inseparably linked with the first, second, and fourth precepts.” (Det & Comp, op. cit.)  Buddhism has allowed us to fully explore, without control or deception, that which is an important foundation for all philosophical teaching: that we as humans must first accept the beingness of those around us and understand that their existence impacts who we are and how we relate to the universe.

It is from this acceptance of the existence of those around us that we allow ourselves to come to terms with our own existence.  It is through our compassion for others that we find detachment.  It is at the very core of our being.  To that end, Buddhism shares with us five values of humanity that have become pillars of existence.

The following is only one of many representations of the five precepts or five virtues.  These were taken from the Buddhist Publication Society.

  1. I undertake the training rule to abstain from harming, in any way, another life.
  2. I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking what is not given.
  3. I undertake the training rule to abstain from sexual misconduct.
  4. I undertake the training rule to abstain from false speech or lying.
  5. I undertake the training rule to abstain from fermented drink that causes heedlessness.

Compassion then, seems to be at the very core of precepts 1, 2, and 4 as those seem to directly relate to how we treat others around us.  Even for those who aren’t Buddhists, these are 5 easy to follow guidelines which enable proper moral conduct rather than the illusion of control and dominance.

In a nutshell then, compassion is that which keeps us in check with regards to our treatment of others around us.  It is that which frees us from our burden of trying to figure out how to treat others; it’s already laid out in a very simplistic manner.  Treat ALL things with respect, and dignity, and morality just falls into it’s natural place.

Closing

We are beings with intensely complex emotional needs and understandings of everything around us.  We project our own inadequacies on others in an attempt to control and dominate that which is around us, but none of this actually brings about any sense of peace or completion.  Instead it breeds more contempt and neediness.  Egos explode with righteous indignation and the veracities of existence are exploited and denigrated to an incomprehensible set of rules and regulations never intended to bring any fulfillment or illumination.  Instead they mitigate and enslave to a linear process of thought which hinder growth and development.

Break out of the endless cycle and allow yourself to see beyond the meaningless and embrace the nurturing.  Grow beyond the need for rules and regulations for the path of self awareness and honest, accomplished achievements.  Let go of what keeps you bound to viciousness and animosity, and embrace detachment, and compassion as your foundation of self discovery.

Choose,

Peace,
BB
K

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2 Responses to this post.

  1. Posted by Gloria Mathiesen on 05.10.09 at 2:51 pm

    It is an endless cycle, with many years of practice trailing behind, a habit that needs to be changed.

    I like your idea of incorporating “Detachment” and “Compassion” within the process of letting go of the negative. In order to feel true compassion-we need to detach from the emotional soup we are submerged in.

    I would also offer the word Empathy. Many of us confuse it with sympathy-which then leads us into the cycle and the soup.

    For it is empathy that allows true compassion. With empathy, you can provide support without enabling poor choices of another. With empathy, you can ask yourself what void(s) are you filling by rescuing another.

    Gloria

  2. Posted by Ken Nelan on 05.10.09 at 2:51 pm

    I like the word “Empathy”. I feel it is totally underused in our society. If more people could feel the pain they were inflicting on others we might have a completely different world.

    Thanks for your wonderful insights as usual.