Constellations of energy.

You probably recognize this:

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That pattern was imprinted in our minds when we were still children gazing up with wonder at the night sky. With some repeated searching, it became easier and easier to recognize this constellation of stars, and now when we see the pattern we don't even think about it- it's the big dipper.

Constellations reveal a lot about the way our minds work. We try to organize information in such a way that it is easier and more efficient for us to work with it in the future. There is no big dipper. From the vantage point of Polaris the constellation of the big dipper would look completely different. The only reason we recognize this constellation is because we have been trained to identify it and it resembles objects with which we are familiar.

This same training and shaping of our perceptions and the concepts that we apply to them shapes our understanding of the world and our identity. Reality is itself a continually unfolding process. The amount of information that we can process and manage is quite limited, so we train from birth in recognizing certain patterns and events. These patterns and events form constellations of concepts in our minds, so that we can develop and better orient ourselves with the world around us.

Understanding the constellations of reality is a useful tool, but it is not without its side effects.

What happens when we confuse the constellation of events? What happens when we get caught up in negative mental states or are anxious about some perceived event in the future? None of those constellations is fixed or lasting, and yet we get caught up in reifying the constellation that we can't see how much space is left in there.

This is fundamentally what the Buddha was talking about when he introduced selflessness or the concept of emptiness. There is an appearing aspect to the world around us, but it is our minds that create the conception of an identity.

There are no lines in the night sky. Our minds draw the lines.

There is no truly existing self. Our minds merely connect the constellation of phenomena we call a 'self' into something we can try to hold onto and call our own.

Same goes with all phenomena. This cup, computer, table, house. They are all constellations of dependent origination in the form of energy.

Grab a shovel.

Answers don't allow us to go deeper.  Questions do.

As we process and contemplate the information available to us (and it's all available to us), we need to learn to ask better questions.

Ask a question.  Find an answer. 

Answers give you a resting point, a place to contemplate and a ground to dig deeper.

Questions are the shovel that opens up space for further exploration.  Don't sit on your laurels, grab a shovel. 

Relevance.

Do you ever find yourself getting caught up in collecting information for the sake of collecting more? 

We have this tendency in our practice- our practice of being generous, making an impact, being open and available to others around us- we have this tendency to externalize the practice. 

We get wrapped up in ideas and concepts.  We make our practice this big project with all of these complicated pieces.  We gather and collect, piece together and reanalyze.  Maybe even start back at square one. 

We need to evaluate what is relevant to our practice.  The process of doing that needs to occur on the basis of what is going on inside of us, not outside of us. 

Where are we getting stuck?  What are we grasping at?  Where is our hope and fear? 

Obstacles that we encounter in our mind are the ground for hope and fear.  The cycle of hope and fear spring from the resistance that is occurring in our own minds. 

Information gathering becomes a hiding place.  It becomes busy work that keeps us occupied and safe.

When that happens, it is not relevant to our practice.

Identify resistance.
Internalize your practice.
Notice when and why you try to get away. 

When you break through the resistance, it is like a dam giving way, all the qualities that were blockaded naturally pour out. 

INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL EXPERIENCE

I watched an interesting TED talk the other day by David Eagleman about how we experience the world.  David and his team are doing breakthrough research for deaf people using technology to allow deaf people to actually hear.  It's pretty amazing stuff what they are doing.   

In his talk he mentions the German word umvelt, which means the surrounding world.  David argues that our experience is constrained by our sense perception and that the reality that we experience is defined by the limits of our sense organs.  He also talks about what would happen if we use technology to increase our sensory experience, such as being able to directly perceive UV light or infrared light.

Would that increase in sensory experience expand our umvelt?  Would it lead to a more expansive experience of the world?

Surely.  Without a doubt.

But how does that actually benefit us?

When I was in college, me and my roommate got in a heated discussion with one of his friends about the use of LSD or other psychoactive drugs.  The basis of his argument was that our brain is wired to only experience reality a certain way and by taking drugs you could expand that experience and presumably gain something in the experience.

Is it our experience of reality that limits us?

It is without a doubt in my mind that we could experience more, indefinitely so.  We could experience an expanded visual consciousness, a wider auditory consciousness, a more subtle olfactory and taste consciousness, and a much more discerning perception of touch.  We could do all of those things.

All of this is based on the assumption that we have insufficient data or information, and that insufficiency limits us.  It limits our experience and our experience equals...what does more experience equal?

More experience could equal more humility, more awe and insight.  I think that is really the hope.  But truly, more experience usually equals more ego.  What if we could become like the gods and know all?  How marvelous would we be?  Our amazing experience would mean that we are amazing.  The significance of everything that we experience would translate to our lives being significantly significant.  We would find our lives meaningful.  Having experienced EVERYTHING, our lives would be fulfilled.  Maybe we would even finally feel satiated.

What really limits our experience is that we crave experience for our own sake.  Then we fixate on that experience of reality as true, having experienced it ourselves.

Craving and ignorance, those are our real inadequacies.

Craving keeps us in a cycle of consumption.  Ignorance fixates on me and mine.  Neither are fulfilling.  Both constrict our experience.   


 



 

Disconnected.

All that study, yet it doesn't fit together.
All that information, but no sure way to act.
All those years of dedication, but still the struggle to find balance.

The ability to make connections is vital to your practice.  Study broad and deep, but distill the essence to bring it all together.  Expand and elaborate, then summarize the key point.

When you understand the essence, everything else makes sense.  You see the relationship and the bigger picture.  You see the next step, the possibility.

Without the essence, you're all head.
With the essence, you're all heart.

When information is not enough.

We live in an age of information.  It is right at the tip of our fingers, but what do we do with it?

How do we apply it to our situation?  When do we know if it is working?

There is a certain comfort that comes with knowing where to go to get the right answer, but how do you apply that knowledge in a new context?  How does it apply to your context?  How do the facts actually benefit you? 

Information was once held by the powerful to establish hierarchy and maintain the status quo.  Now information is freely available and yet we often still feel powerless.  Why?

Knowledge and experience are two different things.  It is like reading and planning for a trip to a distant city versus actually going there.  You need to make the journey to make the knowledge real, to make it your own.  Having never stepped a foot in the direction of that which you read about, how can you proclaim to know the subtlety of its experience.

You must walk the path. 

Beyond the surface.

It is really difficult to identify objects in deep space.  Take for example the Helix Nebula, which is observable in our northern hemisphere.  It is observable.  People have identified it, named it, know its location.  But it is not easy to find.

Why?

Because we do not know how to orientate ourselves.  We are overwhelmed at the amount of information that needs to be gathered and applied.  Even if you are given the exact coordinates it really doesn't help you if you don't have a general orientation of the sky and how to apply that specific information.

We live in an age of information.  An era when any answer can be Googled in moments.  You might be able to give me the right answer, but does that help you?  Can you see deeper? 

Amateurs are passionate.  They are passionate enough to do the work it takes to orientate themselves to the worlds in which they inquire.  Their passion allows them to build the framework necessary to explore deeper.  Their passion carries them beyond the superficial.  It fosters depth and the depth feeds the passion.

Passion coupled with orientation, a framework for exploration and the ability to see deeper are the prerequisites for becoming an expert.

We need more experts.  Authentic ones that is. 

What do teachers teach?

Does a good teacher teach you the method, the skills?
Is it all about the information? 
Once you have gathered all the knowledge and can do the practice by rote, are you learned?

The best teachers teach you the path, the journey.  They push you to your limits and then give you the resources and support needed to figure out how to break through them.  They inspire you to look deeper.

They encourage the evidence based doubt of the scientist and the reason based doubt of the debater.  They understand the value of a good question and teach you to be brave enough to ask it.

The truly great ones teach you how to carry the ball yourself.  They show you how to bring your practice and knowledge into a new environment and still be able to connect the dots.  They teach you how to stand up, shoulder the weight, and to do it with patience, kindness and generosity.

You should read Stop Stealing Dreams by Seth Godin, it redefines what school is for and lays out a new approach to teaching and learning.