The Fable of the Four Philanthropists

Once upon a time, there was a small town besieged by war. Invading marauders eventually captured the land, built a prison in middle of the town square, and imprisoned all the warrior men of the community. And every day citizens would see their sons and fathers suffering behind bars in the middle of the town square. Unable to bear it any longer, 4 philanthropists got together and decided to make an offering of peace. 

The first philanthropist went to the jailer and said that he had a lot of money and couldn't stand to see the prisoners without fresh water. He begged for mercy so that he could spend all his money to buy fresh water for the prisoners to drink. The invaders allowed it and the philanthropist felt at peace with his offering. 

The second philanthropist went to the jailer and said he had a lot of livestock and couldn't stand to see the prisoners sleeping on rocks and dirt. He begged the jailer to be allowed to use his sheep and animal skins to make beds and pillows for the prisoners. The invaders allowed this gift and the philanthropist felt at peace. 

The third philanthropist went to the jailer and said he had a very large farm and he couldn't stand to see prisoners eating so poorly that many were malnourished. He begged the jailer to be allowed to bring all his food from the farm and make meals for the prisoners. The invaders allowed this gift and philanthropist felt at peace. 

The fourth philanthropist had neither farm, nor livestock, nor money. He was very poor. But he was a saint. So for his gift he did what any saint would do: he stole the jailer's keys, snuck back to the jail at night, and released all the prisoners. And he felt at peace with this offering. 


I listened to this story on a Wayne Dyer CD as I drove through Miami. I thought about the offering of comfort. It is nice to have good food in the prison of this life, good clothes, and luxurious sleep while inside the prison. But how much better it would be to just leave the prison. It's a frightening proposition because we've been told that we are born into the jail cell of this body and the only way we leave it is through death.

Many spiritualities promise salvation after death. Yet the esoteric branches of these same major religions hint at something else. From the Kabbalah sect within Judaism, to the Sufi mystics of Islam, to the Christian transcendentalist, as well as Hindu and Buddhist Tantric practitioners, they have all looked at this belief and said 'yes, but what if it was different? What if we didn't have to die to get out of the cell? What if this life is not synonymous with the prison? Then the prison we are trapped in must be something. And life can be lived in a different way and in freedom.

I wonder about the convergence of all these religions along with the science of quantum physics. It feels like these things have been predicted by the Dalai Lama as well as A Course in Miracles. It seems as if our society's are reaching a point where we're realizing that the attitude of 'wait until death' isn't good enough any more. And it would be criminal for me to waste time in this life consumed with ensuring basic comfort for myself and my family instead of learning how to leave this prison while in this life.

There are days when I am consumed by the first 3 philanthropists.  I just want the money, the comfort, feeding my ego with the thoughts of fame. There is nothing wrong with wanting comfort. I don't even think there's anything wrong with dreaming of reaching more people and having a good reputation. But only when that comfort can be used to achieve the clarity of the fourth philanthropist so that I can find the keys to freedom.

Gay Marriage: A Buddhist/Christ Perspective

This is not 'the' Buddhist perspective but merely 'a' perspective from someone who has a deep respect for Christianity and Buddhism. Yesterday, history was made when a sitting US president expressed his support for gay marriage. President Obama created another historical moment in his first term by stating the obvious: gay people are the same as everyone else and should be allotted the same rights.

His 'evolution' on this issue wasn't so much as an upward progression as just stepping back and allowing the decaying walls of political prejudice to collapse under their own weight. His leadership on this issue isn't as heroic as some left-wing pundits will make it seem nor is it as obvious to just say he's following the poll numbers. But President Obama looked at the untenable political, cultural and ethical position and refused to hold it any longer.

It is the same shift that President Kennedy was forced to make with the civil rights movement. Kennedy knew the situation of continued discrimination was absurd, obviously unjust, and going against basic concepts of America. But he wasn't in a rush to help out Blacks. If civil rights leaders would have taken another 10 years to set out demands, then I'm sure President Kennedy would have been fine to let the discrimination continue for another decade. But the issue came to a boil under his presidency due to outside circumstances, increasing violence, media attention, and an organized movement demanding change. At that point Kennedy was merely simply stated the obvious: Blacks are equal and the time to pretend otherwise has ended. Some times leadership takes the form of just stating the obvious. And that is when the greatest violence can erupt. 'The obvious' often triggers 'the delusional' fears of those who see themselves as guilty of benefiting from discrimination.

The backlash against school desegregation that started under President Eisenhower spilled out across the country as White parents were forced into seeing the obvious. The courts, the president, and even the legislative branch finally agreed that it was time to muster up and to be willing to look at what was always there: there is no inherent difference in nature and therefore should be no difference in government policy. Segregationist clung even more desperately to their delusions of the glorious past. When that failed to work, racists switched tactics from the halcyon bigoted past to the dystopic equalized future. Race wars, mongrel children, and white kids 'infected' with lower intelligence all became a part of a whisper campaign to get people to fear the future.

Generations later we see the same tactics played out on gay rights. The glorious past of hetero-normative marriages never existed and it certainly didn't exist on the premise of discriminating against same-gender couples. We will see a backlash against seeing each other as equal that will  be phrased in foreboding signs of God's judgment against greater freedom. It will be the same excuses and same logic used in past arguments against liberty for all.

Conservatives will insist that marriage has always been between a man and a woman. This is an outright lie. Marriages in many ancient cultures have been between same genders. These cultures seemed to exist just fine for hundreds -and in some cases- thousands of years.  No smiting, no asteroid-inflicted apocalypse to signal some spiritual deficiency. Those ancient societies collapsed and reformed as societies often do. There seemed to be no reign of fire for Ancient Greeks, Native American tribes, African empires for allowing gay marriage. There extinction was almost always due to warfare, greed, and human factors.  But let's pretend for a moment. Let's pretend that it's true for the purpose of analysis that  'marriage has always and will always be between a man and a woman.' The reasoning splits for this historical and spiritual lie off into several contradicting points, as illogical reasoning often does.

The first and most crude reasoning is that God wants it that way. This is kindergarten logic that's spouted mostly by Christians on this issue but is used by all religions when it suits them. It supposes that one side knows what God wants over another. How they came to this conclusion is anyone's guess. But God -the very definition of infinite love and light according to every religion- wishes to exclude a particular group from His presence. God wishes for some people to remain in darkness and pain. If this were true then that voice of exclusion contradicts the very definition of God. It would be impossible for one to both 'be infinite love' and exclude at the same time.

God doesn't deal in exceptions. Humans, on the other hand, are all about exceptions and divisive rules. By deduction those voices of exclusion can't be of God but are probably of something else. Furthermore to believe that God is only speaking to some people is Old Testament logic that only some are 'chosen people.' Once again, this goes against Christian values that atonement has made everyone the chosen people. The concept of Jesus being the Son of God wasn't exclusionary. The principle of his teachings is just this: I am and the son of God AND so are are you. Once again, this is based on the principle of infinite light and love. Jesus was following this perfectly and therefore there could not be any difference between him and others. If there was even the slightest bit of exceptionalism ('I am Jesus, son of God, and you are unwashed trashed.') then all of his teachings become meaningless. Atonement means that the riff has been healed between brothers and sisters. Love extends itself because God is here and now in each person. This is important because it can be applied to any issue where one side says 'God said 'no' to these people.'

God would never say 'yay' or 'nay' because that is a dualistic mode of thinking that could only exist in a split mind that sees darkness and light. There is no darkness in Christ consciousness and Buddha-mind because where it goes, there is light. So to be present is to be light. No epic battle of good vs. evil is needed. God merely needs to exist and contradictions go away. Oneness is the natural state of all things.  God is. There is no stance to be taken because God is above stances and exceptions.

We have started off with the first, biggest, and most egregious contradictory rational that supports the  lie of 'marriage only being between a man and woman.'  This is a Buddhist debate tactic: start off with biggest error first and all others fall away. The smaller arguments don't hold up against any legal or ethical standard.

The other reasoning dispassionately states that it would be nice to help gay Americans but that has to be left up to the states. Federal government can't interfere with states and their rights. Mitt Romney began floating that trial balloon out there only moments after Obama's announcement. The federal government always interferes with states when it deals with civil rights. If the national government didn't do this then we would be living in a confederacy of loosely attached independent regions. We do not. We live in a federal system where certain protections and fundamental values must be the foundation for 'Americans.' In cases of ethical conflict we are always "Americans first' and "Floridians and New Yorkers' second. We pledge allegiance to a national government and its values. This reasoning is not only unsupported by history but it's the very crux of why we moved into a federal national government: you can't live in a country, trade, and pursue liberty if there is no community standard. Marital choice along with property rights and freedom of religion are the principles to an individual's 'pursuit of happiness.'

Another argument bridging from this last statement is that freedom of religion is being intruded upon by federal government. There is no religion that is based on denying gay marriages. Furthermore, these same-gender marriages aren't forced on to churches. They are legal contracts forged between willing parties to enter into a union. That is what a marriage is in the eyes of the federal government. All the dressings, religious ceremonies, and traditions are left up to the individual. If there isn't a religious order willing to undertake the marital demands of the two parties, then they can have their marriage at a courthouse.

The final main argument is that gay marriage some how threatens heterosexual marriages. Gay relationships no more threaten straight relationships than people eating meat threatens my vegetarian diet.  Even people eating meat in my presence does not threaten me because I know what I want. That's why I can joke with my friends who are carnivores and try to 'tempt' me with flesh. There is no allure because I know what I want. If I didn't know what I desired, then there might be temptation. If, for example, I was a militant vegan and became irate at anyone eating meat in my presence, then I probably have some lingering questions in my mind about what I'm eating. If straight people feel threatened by the presence of gays, then there is probably some internal doubt about their own status. All defenses come from feeling attacked. All feelings of being attacked come from some internal guilt or uncertainty. In that case, the issue to be resolved isn't the external conditions that shift with the situation, but the internal mindset which reacts out of guilt.

There are several more illogical reasons used to support a historical lie, but why go into all of them? It's still a lie and all of the varying contradictory rationale come from the same source: fear.

There's a famous Zen statement: let go or get dragged. At a certain point, fear protects us. At a young age it encourages competition, analysis, debate. But as we grow up, fear becomes a hindrance to progress. The same things basic stimulus I used to study as a child ($5 bonus from parents, cookies from teacher, and fear of falling behind) now seem silly. The reptilian brain only go so far in a progressive, multicultural, fast-changing culture. It's time to let go of fear.

When this country was founded most of the people were not free. Women were in bondage to husbands and fathers, Blacks were enslaved, poor farmers existed as serfs for the wealthy. The writing in the Constitution wasn't a statement of reality but a promise of the future. The founding fathers -slave owners, wife beaters, illegal brewers, and Indian killers- knew what the people were capable of taking on. They were a wild civilization living under the threat of attack by local tribes and European nations. America existed as a young ideal trapped on all sides by the fear of basic survival.

Once basic security was established it wasn't long before the abolitionist calls became too great to go unheeded. Then it was women's rights, civil rights and now gay civil rights. It is an upward spiral toward what we said this country would become. If we are to show our best face to the world, then we must know our fellow man as equal, regardless of race, religion, or orientation. There is no other way to overcome the outside darkness of fanaticism, terror, and fear except to dispel it with liberty. President Obama took one more further step toward extending the light to all people.

UPcoming Teachings: The Wish to Love

WHAT: Audio messages from 3-year retreatant and Buddhist nun, Venerable Lobsang Chunzom
WHEN: June 7th
              7:30pm
WHERE: 3 Jewels

61 4th Ave # 3  New York, NY 10003

"A Course In Miracles" and Buddhism

In Buddhism we get very technical and specific about how to move the winds and channels in the body to achieve certain results. The past year I've been reading these quantum physics books, and A Course In Miracle, as well as Gary Rennard's The Disappearance of the Universe.  In reading these texts I find that they were perfectly describing the results that Buddhism says comes at a certain state. Exactly the same reporting from masters who have 'gone to that place' of enlightenment. 

A Course in Miracles approaches it slightly differently with the words of Christ. It's all about forgiveness on a pure non dualistic level (which is very Buddhist in some ways). It is forgiving the illusion. Forgiving the difficult boss who I created and is teaching me a lesson, forgiving this trouble, and that issue. Not condescending forgiveness which is poisonous. But true forgiveness and realizing we are all brothers of Christ and children of God. What is here isn't real and therefore is just an illusion. All there is, is God. 

And this isn't a God that created the world. Course states that karma created the world and that's that. God is formless, shapeless and sounds a lot like a codeword for dharmakaya or some sort of essence. And this God/emptiness is the only constant and therefore nothing else is real, so it must be forgiven. Or as one quantum physicists would say: it's the void that's full. The universe is empty. 

Forgive the mistaken belief that I am separated from God, b/c in fact I am not and never have been. This karma and constant reincarnation is a trick of the mind (Buddhist totally believe in this). And reincarnation was in the Bible for most of its history until Catholic Church took it out hundreds of years later. And so this cyclic thing is happening b/c of my own guilt, the constant shifts in my life are little guilt trips that trigger separation and division to appear on all levels. 

I separated from God (Big Bang) and set off a chain of events that occurred and arose the universe. In separating all time and space was created at once. My mind organizes it into a linear fashion to make sense of the universe. It is my guilt of separation and fear (God's gonna get me) that keeps me cycling around. It's what runs this world of the 20,000 illusions, shifting relationships, and separation. Fear from this guilt is what creates up and down feelings, something pleasant that must always change. So the big forgiveness lesson is with myself. I am not guilty. I am innocent. When the voices comes, when the illness comes, when mishaps come that trigger that voice of doubt/guilt which is my ego, I remember that I am innocent. 

God is...

And everything else IS NOT. So I forgive that which IS NOT, b/c it's not real. 

They say my guilt plays itself out with sickness and every dilemma. Anything that troubles or disturbs my peace is coming from that guilt/fear from the initial separation. And all of eternity is waiting. Eternity is right here waiting, for me to strip away my 'illusory guilt' which causes cancers and death, and all forms of separation. This, of course, isn't happening on a conscious level. The mind is massive and sets into motion events that will happen in this life based on that guilt. And my purpose here is to forgive. Forgive and remember: I am innocent. 

I find this works REALLY well with Buddhist studies. This is a Jesus I like and completely know. Not the condemning one, but one who is saying "I am Christ. And so are you." Then what could worry me in a long-term way if I am Christ? Would Christ care about sexual orientation, what nation I come from, what I eat if I'm talking about pure non-dualistic love? All that stuff is dualistic, set to confuse and separate, intended on perpetually re-enacting the initial separation that set everything into motion. The world is filled with outrage, scandal, war, and separation. And it must be forgiven on the purest level.

Supplementary book "The Disappearance of the Universe" is very powerful and goes through Course in Miracles at a more digestible level. The Course is very thick and big and takes a year or so to work through it. I have been feeling lighter. 

When I see scandal I forgive it. Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman: forgive it. Republicans wanting to cut taxes for rich and end programs for the poor? Forgive, forgive forgive. Truly forgive and realize that I will still vote, voice my opinion, but there isn't condemnation or rage. I am aware of the illusion and can't get enraged at it mirroring back my guilt. But when I forgive it, this illusion is released. Instead of getting sick 100 times, maybe I can get sick only 98 times and forgive it, remind myself of innocence and be released from the last 2?

At the very least, it makes reading the news and talking to people a lot easier. Anger is a call for love, so I give love. Love is a call for love so I give love. Everything negative is coming from a place of fear and guilt. So there is nothing to do but release it with forgiveness and then embrace it as Christ/Buddhamind/zero-pt field physics. God is formless, tasteless, colorless. All form comes out of duality so when I get to the level of ultimate forgiveness that is the 'disappearance of the universe' or 'clear light direct perception of emptiness' in Buddhism. The universe dissolves away b/c all duality has been released and with that there is only one thing: God. 

God is.

Keys to the Logic Machine

Master Dignaga (540 AD)

After having thoroughly digested Tao Open and secret sayings, returning to basic psychology, delving into quantum physics theories on images, and beginning studies on A Course in Miracles the past year, I'm revisiting one of my favorite studies: Buddhist logic. I'm re-listening to courses on the Asian Classics Institute (acidharma.org). I've gone through all the teachings, the homework, quizzes, and final exams for the first 15 courses. Yet, I've found myself returning again and again to ACI Course 13: The Art of Reasoning. 


The Art of Reasoning deals with The Commentary on Valid Perception by Master Dharmakirti (650 AD).  The big founder of Buddhist logic was Master Dignaga (480-540 AD). Master Dignaga laid out the rules for debate, logic, and how to get to the direct perception of emptiness. After his passing, people started questioning the purpose of logic and Master Dharmakirti came along and wrote the principle commentary. Valid perception is a code word for the ultimate aim of Master Dignaga.  

Master Dharmakirti (650 AD)

But even the commentary is so difficult to understand that then a Tibetan commentary was written about the commentary. Keys to the Logic Machine by Purbuchok Jampa Tsultrim Gyatso (1825- 1901)is one of the latest commentaries for students in 20th and 21st century. These teachings have been translated by Geshe Michael Roach, who teaches the subject like a true master.


Purbuchok Jampa was the teacher for the 13th Dalai Lama, the one who foretold of the collapse of Tibet decades before it happened when he was in his strongest position. 


Logic is very difficult. It requires a high degree of concentration and focus. Even over the course of studying ACI 13 the past few years, I have noticed how my understanding shifts, ascends, and deteriorates depending on my ethics and how well I'm keeping my vows. I have literally re-read passages of sections I believed I understood, and not even been able to understand what it was saying a week later. Then I have tightened my vows and watched my understanding return. At the very least, it made me aware of how fluid my mental capacities are, and how easily I can slip. It's a lot easier to slip in understanding than to climb back up the mountain.


Logic is also very difficult because they say it's the key to direct valid perception of truth. It's very easy for me to slip back into the world of judgment and duality. Over the last week I have been preparing myself. I shut down on my news watching, sports, ignorant reactions and actions. I've re-upped my daily meditations, trimmed my diet to only what's necessary as fuel, and I'm now working out at the gym so I have a stronger more flexible body and mind. With that in mind, I delve back into this very simple (but not easy) path. 


The most striking thing about Keys to the Logic Machine is that it has a few functions 1) see emptiness or direct valid perception 2) stop judging people 3)keep teachings of logic safe in world. All three are related to valid perception of reality. And in order to understand that object of indivisibility, I have to work with mental images. Mental images are the things I stick on top of stuff and mistake for the actual thing: i.e. every person and thing in my universe. 


Now returning to this subject with some understanding of quantum physics and wave functions, I'm beginning to look at the Buddhist analysis of images. 


In physics there are two basic mediums of energy: wave or particle. Essentially we're talking about the difference between a potential (wave) and a point (particle). My understanding is that a wave is non-local (or very close to it) while the particle is local. Waves operate in the zero-pt field of energy, where all energy plays and "appears" to move, start, and stop. They say consciousness collapses wave potential of a non-local energy into a particle or point. This happens at a subtle level but is applicable in all situations. 


For example, I am walking down the street yesterday and I see this object. It's not clear to me what this is. It's close to the ground. As I get closer I notice its furry. It is a wave potential of 'cat.' It's 'cat-ness.' As I get closer to my focus it shifts and clearly becomes 'a cat.' It shifts from wave awareness, to a particle. The mind takes it from 'cat' to 'a cat.' My view of 'a cat' is based on my previous views of cat. In fact, I'm never seeing the cat in front of me. I'm always seeing my mental image of 'a cat' from my mind. 


To scientists and visual artists, this seems obvious. But according to quantum physics, that is the universe. And in Buddhism, it is the study of how mental images work is the key to opening the mind (logic machine). Studying mental images isn't the end goal. But once I truly understand them, then I begin to understand dependent origination and work my way back to valid perception. 


In A Course in Miracles they state that all learning goes along this path. From duality to non-duality and finally pure non-duality. In pure non-duality there is no separation between Subject and Object. The verb is merely a loop feed action of the conscious mind. In poetic terms, every person and object in the dream is a reflection of the dreamer. There is no second dreamer influencing my dreams. The nightmares and monsters are a reflection of me. My consciousness is subject and object. Well in waking life there is a loop feed like in a dream. The subject (me) and the object (out there) are coming from same feed because the object is a mental image from me. That doesn't mean I let anything happen in my world because it's all from me. I try to challenge and shift the monsters in my dreams, but with the awareness that I am playing a role in its creation. There is no monster machine below ground that is making the painful things in my world or dreams. 


What's remarkable is that science and religion agree. From Jesus to Buddha to Einstein, they all agree there is a holographic universe. The universe is a holograph and holds the principles of a holograph. Holograph depend on a surface that shoots out images. Each part of a holograph is the same as all other parts, because they're not real. They are things projected on to a screen. The purpose of analyzing the holograph isn't to make better 'fake images.' But to see reality and wake up from the dream. The dream goes up and down, causes pain and happiness, but it follows the inconsistency of the holographic plate. There is nothing to this holographic 'dream' universe but to wake up from it. There is no other reason. 


The reason I'm here is to undo all of my guilt and mistakes according to A Course in Miracles. The best way to undo them is to practice this forgiveness with the understanding that I'm only forgiving another part of the dream that is coming from me. Ultimately I am forgiving myself and undoing all my guilt. I am forgiving the nightmare I created as a way to end the karma of guilt. But to do that effectively, I must know the aspects of my mental images and dreams. I have to truly understand the way things collapse from waves to particle, from non-local to local, and from a general type to a specific object. 


I'm hoping to get in deeper with this and blend it with quantum physics holographic studies. We will see how this goes.