Buddhism in a nutshell / Zen in a Nutshell The Proof of the pudding is the eating explanation for open western rational eyes / definition bouddhisme / definicion budismo

Buddhism has been described a lot. Using either Buddhist view (family) or western rational conflict view (egoist individuals). That way the holistic Buddhist view of reality in left brain using eyes (rational view) seemed 'unworldly', though Buddhist practice makes perfect sense when viewed at with 'common sense'. Imagine going from modest 'reality exists even without 'thinking' humans', to rigid science dreams about 'appearance' produced by the superior ' human mind'. Like trying to see water in a desert.

In Western 'rational' THEORY 'mind' is seen as immaterial phenomenon that 'thinks' the environment (creationism=The Word of God). In Buddhist PRACTICE 'thought'=sense-experience=action and is physical (part of total reality).

Superwizards (level Plato) 'finetune' behavior in open debates, referees are lesser wizards.

('theory' is a 'rational' virtual reality, and often totally confusing)

'Puzzling' ('rational' moves in a 'rational' 'gamebox' (virtual reality)) produced amazing engineering results, but Buddhist behavior is MUCH closer to common sense. In Buddhist fighting arts you learn that 'fantasizing' (theorizing about fighting rules) before reacting awfully slows down, and doesn't help at all. The ethics of evolution 'Common Sense' already in 'intuition' archived successful reactions.

That's why open minded common sense provides all the means to grasp the essence of Buddhist behavior. Evolution has MUCH more dimensions than 'rationality', and in 'common sense' optimizes over many overlapping dimensions while dynamically changing goal.
Buddhist behavior will be described in 'common sense', and not by making it look 'rationally' ridiculous using seemingly serious mystical and difficult 'scientific' words. The simplicity in Buddhist life shows that 'Buddhism' as unity produces simplicity.
It were and still are the majority of Buddhism 'theory' producing western rationalist scientists that make Buddhist life appear complex. Mistakenly such 'theory' hunters in high voice complain that Buddhist 'theory' is 'rationally' awfully difficult (of course, because Buddhist behavior is about practicing).
That's 'rationally' behind a pc observing 'terrorist' trees in a private 'rational' 'gamebox', without looking at common sense reality outside the windows.

Such scientists should have really seriously listened to any talented non commercial Zen Master. In style this Master would have remarked cheerfully and friendly that the gamebox and playing style ('theory') of such 'science'-players are crooked, NOT in this case the BEHAVIOR of the victim of their hunt. He or she would have added that locally playing 'rational' virtual reality does not influence (long term) common sense reality.

I cite some American 'scientist': Buddhism itself might even be an Iranian HERESY, not anything really Indian. As in every prejudice there is some truth in it: Buddhist way of life was certainly importantly influenced by Zoroastrian rituals. And Buddhist behavior was introduced by a Sri Lankan priest.

Noble Truths

I myself had a typical rational career as a mathematical engineer. Before starting this quest I new little more about Buddhism than generalities. But in fact in the abstract manipulating of math (left brain) combined with common sense (whole brain = holistic) all tools are available to enter the worlds of Buddhism. That's what I did, and now try to describe in common rational words.

A first feeling of Buddhism comes from studying its history and grasping the essential difference between the originally Greek HALLUCINATION 'spirit' (ASSUMING that 'mind' is an eternal being imprisoned in a human body) and the first 3 OBSERVATIONS OF EVOLUTION in Buddhism (indicating unity of mind and body).

Gautama Buddha wrote the Noble Truths that became basis of Buddhism after having become desillusioned with the teachings of Hinduism. This after thorough studying of Hindu scriptures under Brahmin priests.
The Four Noble Truths that came to the Buddha at his enlightenment are about seeing the logic of life, seeing all actions. Not as our system of thought forces us to see them, but as they ' really' are. That's why in his 4 noble truths he doesn't define a view, but minimum rules for any view.

The first three are about the struggle between individualism (the ego) and many (the family). Or between logic (absolutism in any shape) and creativity (abrupt relative discontinuous change). The difference between building a house using recycled material and based on an existing blueprint, OR designing and building from scratch. You can imagine that only using both methods in a balanced way leads to progress.

The fourth is like Christian 10 Commandments, only showing much more wisdom (sorry).

Truth 1 : Dukkha : Behavior (mind-body relationship) includes pain.

Dukkha has a broader meaning than suffering: it means 'heavy weather' (literally: Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha)

- Body-Mind: A healthy body-mind can get sick and/or die

- Mind: we cannot sustain clear  brain simulations very long - and we cannot stop simulating

- Bodily Emotions: are decidedly impermanent - and pain is very close to pleasure  Love is a powerful force, but also impermanent.  We are constantly in fear that we will lose that which we love.

-Human ability to recognize oneself (consciousness)  - the root of personal suffering (think of Ludwig Wittgenstein stating that personal pain is only the result the notion 'I' and of training)

(Zarah2nd: Common Sense =  the one is touchable.)

Truth  2 : Samudaya: Dukkha comes from desire to meet our expectations. Choosing for the ego rather than for the whole leads to suffering. For example: Communist Russia and Communist China used their veto against intervention against the fascist Mugabe. Because Russians and Chinese are not threatened by Mugabe. That's like tolerating killing out of egoism, as long as the killer pays for Russian petrol and Chinese guns.

(Zarah2nd: Common Sense =  Egoism (individualism)  does not pay)

Buddhism is a positive philosophy, and the next two noble truths give us an optimistic message.

Truth 3 : Nirada: if we stop being addicted any longer to selfish desire, suffering will end.

(Zarah2nd: Common Sense =  End of egoism is end of suffering) MIND that being rational is not sufficient for having Common Sense)

Truth 4 : Magga: The Eight-fold Path. The way to stop suffering is to follow the middle way, the Noble Eightfold path.

The Noble Eightfold path is Right Understanding, Right Intent, Right Speech,Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort,  Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration

1. right view : we need goals, our willpower should be directed

2. right intent  or thought: our willpower needs focus

3.       right speech : speak the truth, willpower should be open to everyone.

4.       right activity : Do not kill / Do not steal / Do not lie: willpower should not be destructive.

5.       right livelihood : Enlightenment takes the life of a monk: willpower needs training.

6.       right effort : Enlightenment doesn't come easily. Persistence is needed to give Willpower a chance.

7.       right mindfulness  or attention: the entire universe, is a product of mind. It is important that we have the correct mind set if we are to achieve enlightenment. Willpower needs Peace of Mind.

8.       right concentration :  The true path to enlightenment is Willpower + Peace of Mind.

'Mind' is the bodily process around association in the brain and takes very little energy.
'Mind' in Buddhism is seen as brainprocess that receives sense signals of the sense organs, recognises repeating patterns, and is able to perform 'dreaming'.
Dreaming around sense experience is useful, but though dreaming around brain-signals might be a fine tool (technology), it is extremely tricky.

In Buddhism 'mind' (the physical brain-process of 'associating') has two main aspects: clarity and knowing;
'Clarity' means that that during 'associating' the brain process called 'mind' acts as mirror (reflects), it does not distort the sense experiences of reality that are 'associated'.
'Knowing' = archiving. The quality of 'knowing' (wisdom) improves if the archive is creative (uses smart logic).

Common Sense 'mind' is like a filtering mirror, it reflects what it receives through the filter.
But beware of 'minds' that practice 'egoism', and became stand alone transmitters.
Meditating is aiming for high 'clarity', becoming part of reality

Looking at this brief description of Buddhist thought, I immediately recognize one essential pluspoint with the mainstream in western rationalism. Buddhism offers a relative view, while western rationalism in absolute way worships 'the supreme human mind'. Much later within rationalism developed a relativist view (see internet encyclopedy), but in it only got used by a very small minority.

The rules given by Buddha on the other hand don't define a view, but only the minimum common sense quality of such a view. Thus from the very start Buddhism is a relative system of thought, using absolute quality 'norms' only to steer in limitless space.

That is very clear in the Buddhist use of the word 'human'. It serves to indicate beings that use the defined by Buddha quality view on life. In that way humans can be 'inhuman' and dolphins may appear to be 'human'.

Another thought that struck me is the resemblance between what Buddhism calls 'right concentration resulting in path to truth' and what western rationalism came to call 'paradigm shift'. It seems to me that Buddhism describes on a personal level is what Thomas Kuhn pictured in a sociological way(Kuhn about cultural revolutions).

That's maybe why in Buddhism methods like meditation are trained to reach 'right concentration' and in that way 'the path to enlightenment' (a different view). Buddhist try to attain a mind shift on a personal level. Unlike in western rationalism in Buddhism the family got a central place. Individuals are not seen as a destructive 'guided missile' with 'gold fever', but as a constructive family member with own 'will to power' (often named 'holism').  

Some statements when reading them in the right state of mind, prove to be very meaningful. For that reason I quote the Dalai Lama

• Beyond Dogma: Dialogues and Discourses, (North Atlantic 1996)

from p. 206 - about joining absolutism and relativism:

I have the feeling, and I may be wrong, that Western thought has a tendency to move from one extreme to the other. It is as if according to the classical models of science and technology, a pressing need was felt in the past to find solid foundations and absolute truths, whereas this type of research is, nowadays, most often considered to be futile. There has been a complete reversal, heading off toward another extreme - relativism, where nothing, ultimately, exists any longer, where perhaps there is no longer even any reality as such! It seems that the possibility that gray areas may exist between the two extremes has not been taken into consideration. This is what I have observed. There is often talk of the disparity beween our perception of the world and reality; the very idea of contradiction between the manner in which we see the world and that in which phenomena exist allows us to infer the existence of a certain degree of reality.

To finish here are a few typical quotes of Buddha. Often seeming only practical, but on second thought very wise.

1.       Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

(The One: totally different from the agressive Roman Catholic creationist view that 'the world = THE Word of God')

.

2.       A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.

3.      Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

4.       Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.

5.       A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another that's like a storm that ruins the garden.


Finish: "All Buddhists are vegetarians, but most of them prefer to flavor their vegetables with beef, or pork, or duck, or chicken." - Lin Yu Tang

Well before the 6th century, Persian Zoroastrianism had spread to northern China via the Silk Road, gaining official status in a number of Chinese states. Although annihilated in Persia many ages earlier by Mohammedanism, Zoroastrianism in China survived till around 1100 AC. Remains of Zoroastrian temples have been found in Kaifeng and Zhenjiang. Zoroastrianism certainly influenced Chinese Buddhism.

Zen in a nutshell / Zen Thought

Zen as knowledge system is based on  'pure mind' , what western rationalism started to undervalue as 'pure intuition' , since start of this in age a lot less full-grown way of thinking more than 3 ages ago.

Western rational scientists outside nuclear bomb proof caves meet Buddhist people regularly. Rational thinkers who want to get a grip on often counterintuitive creative Zen thinking, should muse on the following Buddhist explanatory joke. It expresses Zen thought as view to see life as a tough but not at all scientific excercise:

Suppose an individual seeker gets close to Zen relatvism--he laughs about wealth, status, sex, and after long struggle doesn't long anymore for food, drink, and at last even looses interest in breathing and living. Does this mean that he/she is free enough egoist desires? Not at all. He only still has one desire left--the thrill to enter here. Only after conquering this last drug of his mind too he will be in the right state of mind only to START thinking about reaching Nirvana.

Surprising is that a young American reader seriously interpretes this common sense saying as evidence as to Buddhism's reliance on god(s) and the supernatural. And as evidence that Buddhism is a religion, while in his view humanism is not. Well a small part of Buddhism indeed is ceremony/religion, but this tradition around meditating is remarkably flexible in behavior. It shows that 'rational' thought has strayed miles away from common sense, a gap that only with HUGE effort might be restored. Humanism comes from Hellenist culture (Alexander the 'Great) and IN ESSENCE is the superiority thinking around humans being unique. Ignorantly 'Humanism' has the same RELIGIOUS roots as fascism.

Zen-Buddhism sees life as overcoming OVERDONE egoism: laughing about wealth, status, sex, etcetera. Buddhism sure values individuals talents, but only when contributing to COLLECTIVE happiness. The last threshold is forgetting about individual wishful dreams like 'personal succes'. At this stage an individual is only ready to enjoy life as part of the family.

Zen practices accomplished amazing feats. The stubborn general western rational view is that those feats are based on rational knowledge and that most statements about Zen sense perception are just nonsense disguised in mystical words. But  both Western rationalism and Zen are quite practical, only in essential different ways. Though only with difficulty rational persons can deny following common sense Zen view on rational science:

Scientists share language and common scientific ways of training. Many also are joined in the commitment to work together towards understanding and describing the world, and in a 'freedom fight' to maintain open minds regarding new ideas. Science seen as a general concept, an not only as common rational view, is much more than what is written in all science books.

So in Zen  eyes formal Western Rational science is mainly: formulas, experiments, group meetings, own difficult language and a lot of unsuccessful commitment to maintain open minded. Despite goals of openness, a quite closed world in its own. Contrary to the following description of the open world of Zen:

When someone explains something in a tone that makes it perfectly clear, or when someone shows you a trick in a lab that is not written in any book, that is pure Zen

The character "Chan" in Chinese ("Zen" in Japanese) a transliteration of the Sanskrit term "dyana" meaning 'meditation'.  (On top is the Japanese character)

The Zen belief is that any human is able, through thorough and much training, to receive only 'essential' sense signals.

I.e. 'undisturbed' by the sense 'white noise' coming from the cultural traditions (for instance 'rational science'). But unlike in traditional (Roman) Catholic thinking 'body and mind' are thought to be one. I.e. your body is part of total reality and also gives essential messages. And your Master may think you have the brains of a cow, but still can't stop noticing a difference between you and any smart individual belonging to this type of animal. He remains receiving essential sense information. But now that I come to think of it, I met skilled Zen Masters talking to cows.

the following statements are characteristic of Zen in general:

1.       - Carrying water and chopping wood is one perfectly alright way to truth

2.       - Spiritual cultivation only comes through hard practice.

3.       - The ultimate truth is only a goal.

4.       - Buddhist teaching doesn't really help. (Zen is modest about Buddhism)

5.       - In the end, nothing is gained (on a limitless path progress is always virtually nill).

Ch'an or Zen is a Buddhist school of thought that highly values and uses meditation, but at the same sees meditation only as a tool. Practitioners meditate in all kinds of positions about the claim that meditation (in itself) cannot cause enlightenment. Not at all like the belief in 'spirituality' in Roman Christianity.

Possession of a knife may lead to killing others while your rice is still not cut, the Roman version of Jesus might have died for your crimes (giving you a clean 'spirit'), but you first have to learn to use a knife in the right way.

In Zen thought meditation is a means to reach "total absorption". Important is that each person should come to her own realization. That's one reason why Zen expressions often have a mysterious air. Zen should not be learned by only study, but mainly by practice. Another is often hidden in translation of only the words and forgetting about their purpose. Chinese and Japanese are complex languages.

.. A belief mother of original Christianity and Islam (see Western History) was brought along The Silk Route from Persia to China between 0 and 500 AC. Zoroastrianism stretched from Babylon to China, from Southern India to the Central Steppes. In China known as 'The Early Church' The Early Christian Church of China is by Roman Christian scientists completely faultily seen as Catholicism and described as being 'Nestorian', Nestorianism was based on the Roman variant of Christianity (Catholicism) and triggered 'Mohammedanism'. Mohammedanism removed the last traces of Zoroastrianism in Persia, and became an annoying 'wall' between 'east' and 'west'. Zoroastrianism doesn't have the dual world view of Roman Christianity ('good' versus 'evil', as invented by Aristotle), and considers Jesus as a very talented human (not as materialized son of the immaterial supergod 'God'). .. The 'Reality is One' view of Zoroastrianism heavily influenced Cha'n Buddhism (Zen). Present Christianity in China was imported by the UK.

This article is part of the series Leap away from the 'Western World'