Monday, December 22, 2008

Opening the Eye of Dharma

We need to remove the blinkers and look...

The cognition of an external object already presupposes the distinction of outside and inside, subject and object, the perceiving and the perceived. When this separation takes place, and is recognized as such, and clung to, the primary nature of the experience is forgotten, and from this endless series of entanglements, intellectual and emotional, takes its rise.

(From the book ‘The Zen Doctrine of No-Mind’ by D.T. Suzuki)

What Daisetz Suzuki points to above, is the cause of our suffering, our living of a life of conflict between here and there. It is the rise of ego that denies the inherent unity of existence. We can experience this unity if we find a way to see things as they truly are, rather than from the viewpoint of ego. How is this done? Well, one method is to just look and see that right now there is no observable separation between this and that, here and there. On a certain fundamental level, you are me and I am you; being open to accepting the facts of the present moment will lead us to actually see this. This is opening the eye of Dharma.

5 comments:

Barry said...

Great photo!
Barry

Anonymous said...

I'm a new visitor. I'm grateful for your blog. Your thoughts are helpful and in a sense also comforting. And you are a keen writer. This also is unusual for a Buddhist blog! Thank you! Renée

G said...

Hello, Anonymous.

I'm grateful for your comment: Thank you!

Barry, it's amazing isn't it? In some ways, it's been comforting that the most powerful politician in the Western world is so fallible - but in other ways somewhat disconcerting!

Buddhist_philosopher said...

disconcerting indeed :) yes, but in our selflessness we know that his blindness is also our own. May we all awaken the dharma eye in the days and years to come.

G said...

Yes, Justin.

I hope that the coming year is an enlightening one for you (and all sentient beings!).

be well,
G.