Sunday, August 9, 2015

Non-discrimination, Non-duality

The followings are important messages from Thay in the video.

(Watch from 1:06:58 to 1:13:53)

The Buddha said, "Yes, that's true. We can't get out of this world of birth and death, of misery, of discrimination just by traveling. Even if we travel with the speed of light." But there are the ways to get out. And that is to look inside. You just look into this phantom long body of yours, and you see the way out. You touch the world of no-birth and no-death, no-being and no non-being. Just look deeply into your body, and you touch the nature of no-birth and no-death, no-being and no non-being. You don't need to travel. Just sit there and look. There is the power, miracle of meditation. You get out of this world of birth and death, the world of miseries, violence, discrimination just by looking deeply, meditation. And this is a wonderful sutra, very short. And it is about looking deeply to touch our true nature. Our true nature is the nature of no birth and no death and the reality as it is. We can touch it.

When you look into yourself, you touch the nature of interbeing. You can not be by yourself alone. You have to inter-be with the world. Looking into you, you see water, earth, air, heat. You see the whole cosmos in you. You are the world. And how the world can get out of the world? To think that you can get out of the world is to think that the world can get out of the world. That is not possible. That is dualistic thinking. You think that you are the subject, you are a self and you are different from the world, that is why you can get out of the world. If you know that the world is in you and you are the world, you are free from that dualistic thinking. And you don't have that kind of desire and hope, delusion any more. 

So, scientists should try in that direction. If they continue to think in dualistic way, they go round and round. You have to see the world in you and you are the world. Many scientists of our time still believe that there is a consciousness in here (body), trying to reach out the world of reality out there and are caught in dualistic thinking about subject and object, or perceptions. The subject of perception is our consciousness that is in here (body), and the object of perception is the world out there. And that is, in Buddhism we call the double grasping. You are caught by the notion of subject and object as a two separate entity. And still caught in that kind of obstacle, dualistic thinking, you can not be free. And the most of the suffering that we have caused each other, it is because of the dualistic thinking, discrimination. Discrimination and dualistic thinking bring about fear, anger, war, liquidation of one another. That is why the first mindfulness training about protecting life should be based on the insight of non-discrimination, non-duality. 

It's not by abolishing all weapons that you can have peace. Disarmament should be done at the root. And that root is dualistic thinking, discrimination. And that is the Buddha's insight. And the right thinking should be in the line of non-discrimination, non-duality. And if you think in the direction of non-duality, non-discrimination, there is no longer any anger, any fear. That is why without that understanding, that insight, we can not be really described as Buddhist ethic. So, right thinking is of course the kind of thinking that is in line with compassion, understanding. But it is based on insight of non-discrimination, non-duality. If you continue to think that the brain is one thing and the consciousness generated by the brain is another thing, you are still caught in dualistic thinking. 


Buddha