DEC-JAN BREAK

Just a message to regular readers - to let you know that I have not stopped writing this blog - or died - I am just taking 2-3 weeks break in order to catch up on paid work that is due by the close of 2008, & also put some attention into a novel I started to write earlier in the year.

I plan to be back to regular postings again from the first or second week of January, and hope to start off by talking about some of the books that I have purchased for my home library.

THE TREE TRUNK 3

Another Buddhist aspect of the tree appears when you consider it in the way some of us consider our bodies - what it is made from and so forth.

I recognize the symbolics of EARTH/MATTER - Dharma that the deep firm roots live in, WATER/LIQUID - the moving life-supporting sap within the solid external trunk, AIR - the thoughts and emotions rushing about, pushing at the leaves, trying to get the whole tree to bend, - but I am not quite sure where the FIRE aspect is, yet.

Not being able to find it, I wonder if that may be of importance - have I simply not located such aspect, or does it not have one? If not, is that relevant to the fact that trees are important within Buddhism?

As you can see, I ramble about with my contemplations and analyzing - but I have definitely located help with centering my focus and not swerving to every thought through using this imagery.

THE TREE TRUNK 2

When it comes to life situations rather than a kitchen mishap, the tree trunk theory helps a lot. There are many instances in Buddhism where we are supposed to train our mind against favoritism, especially when it comes to people - the tree trunk idea works here too.

If I encounter a liked or unliked person, I can control myself mentally by using the tree trunk image - imagining the like or dislike to be winds blowing at my mental leaves, trying to dislodge me into an overreaction. With roots firmly secured in Dharma, the trunk can grow more and more stable and let these winds pass without bending along to every suggestion as a young sapling.

This helps me to practice equanimity, accepting everyone and thing rather than the wanted and liked only, and to control the rushing thought weaving that so many minds wish to waste time with.

I see the roots as buried in the Dharma, the stable trunk unswayed by what I term winds of Mara, and when the leaves are caught and whooshing about - I quickly center my focus on the trunk and go downwards… This seems to help!

THE TREE TRUNK 1

When I recognize a negativity arise - irritation or aggravation perhaps - and wish to stop it growing into anger or furious rage - I have developed the ability to remain calm, and blow it away. I can then deal with the situation without any emotions dealing with me.

With other negatives, it is sometimes harder to recognize them. I can usually see hatred or terror, but their seeds such as dislike, preference, anxiety, concern, and unease, are more difficult for me. This is where the tree comes in handy for my Buddhist practice.


I simply focus my mind on a solid tree trunk. I try to keep my mental actions as stable and unmoving as the trunk of the tree I visualize. This helps me to let the emotions and bad thoughts flow past, without moving me to wrong actions or thoughts.

As an example - my instant reaction to cooking a disaster instead of a pizza might be disgust, dislike, and not wanting to eat the meal - but if I 'tree-trunk' my mind I can take it bite by bite, without worrying myself about "Ew, that tomato is too hot, that cheese is too sloppy, the base is totally disgusting, I don't like cucumber on pizza".

3 natural things - under a tree

The tree seems to be the most important of the three possible symbols. Monks of the Dhutanga practice living under trees and the Bodhi tree being connected to Buddhist faith, it is obviously not I alone that recognize the possible importance of the tree within Buddhism.


I tend to take this further in my own practice, at least recently. I recognize the tree as a provider of shade, sometimes food in the form of fruit, and shelter from wind - but also its symbolism, which assists me.

One of my personal practices involving the tree is the stabilization of my mind. Seeking equanimity, a calm and monk-like serenity, being without passionate whooshes of emotion or bouncing from every thought that hits me… mental stability, like a tree trunk. I will explain this further in my next post.

3 natural things - May/Vesak

Whereas the moon could quite possibly relate to some form of emotive or mental energy, a relaxation of barriers, or a pulling of bodily fluids, a specific month would be difficult to locate a connection to. The Buddha being born in India, what is the season and weather like THERE at that time of year, I wondered…

Is the season or weather relevant, or did these three major events from the Buddha's life story simply occur at the same time of year to signify his exceptional being?

Do the same weather conditions or season mean anything specific to my own practice or to that of others? Is it a time of year or style of weather or level of heat that is conducive to practice?

May, to me, is not a very special month for anything apart from the Buddha's birthday - although I also have a cousin with a birthday in May. I did start my first full time employment in May many years ago, and it must have been around late May when I decided to practice rather than just read about Buddhism - but nothing else major seems to have cropped up then, personally.

Maybe I should look more into the weather conditions of India in May…

3 natural things - the full moon

For part of my recent meditation practices, I have been working on natural items. With the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death all occurring with three specific things in common, these three things have been the key to my contemplations.

* Full moon
* May/Vesak
* Under a tree

The moon does not seem to have much other significance in Buddhist readings and texts that I have so far encountered - but it is well known that the moon controls the tides of the ocean. The ocean and tides and waves therefore have been bouncing about in my mind recently - hence my last post.

Additionally, the full moon has been connected with various other matters throughout history - from madness thru werewolves to raised sexual and emotive moods.

I have been trying to work out if there is any relevance in their having been a full moon on three such important occasions within the Buddha's life - can it really be just a coincidence - or is there something we are not noticing that might help our practice?

JIGSAW PUZZLE

Buddhism is like a giant jigsaw puzzle...

*You contemplate a piece of Buddhism, and investigate its color, shape and form - to see if you think it will fit properly or not.

*You try it in the possible slot…

*It fits! - and provides experience and understanding

or

* It doesn’t fit! - and can be discarded

Gradually, you build the entire picture of Buddhist theory and practice…

WAVES ON THE OCEAN

I look at us all as if we are the waves of the ocean.
A wave exists for a time, building, curling, crashing, vanishing - all whilst constantly remaining a part of the ocean.
That is how I see our lives, our existences, our own smaller portions of the big whole.
What we always are, always is; even when we are a specific part of it rather than it in general.
What we temporarily become changes, but what we are remains as our shared universal core.


Formerly, I viewed us as the rock through which a blow hole's spurt surfaces. The rising waters that shoot into view being representative of Buddha nature or the universal core of divinity within us all, the rock surround symbolizing our stubborn and obstinate minds.
The idea then is to allow the Buddha nature to wear away our rock mindedness, until we disintegrate into the ocean and become fully a part of our inner divinity, without that inflexible mental structure that gives us all so much trouble.