Buddhahood is a testable proposition.

You are a Buddha.

All the scriptures of the Vajrayana and particularly Dzogchen assert this to be true. As it says in the Hevajra tantra:

All beings are buddhas, 

but this is concealed by adventitious stains.

When these stains are purified, their buddhahood is revealed.  

As we find in the Dzogchen semde tantra, the All-Creating King:

The three kayas are subsumed within me, the all-creating one. 

All phenomena, however they manifest, 

have three uncontrived aspects- nature, essence and responsiveness.

 I reveal these three kayas to be my suchness. 

If we accept the proposition that this is our authentic state, our natural condition and birthright, then in order to test whether that is the case we need to go out and find all the evidence and criticism that shows that this is not the case. We need to go out and find all the situations in which things go wrong. We need to prove to ourselves all the ways in which we are not actually Buddhas.

 

The philosopher of science Karl Popper claimed that if a theory was falsifiable, then it is scientific. In his theory of science as falsification, he asserted that the true scientific method was to develop a testable proposition and then to find the ways in which that is false.

If we approach our practice in this methodical and systematic way, we can directly encounter what is preventing us from actualizing our natural condition, our innate buddha heart. When we know the obscuring factors, we can seek out innovative and creative ways to eliminate those obscurations. 

Our practice becomes a laboratory for a new and better approach to living.

When you combine a testable proposition with a practical method of inquiry, you create a self-sustaining system of improvement. If you encourage sharing knowledge and creating meaningful connections to others who are on a similar journey of exploration, you create a supportive culture in which dramatic change can flourish.

I am a Buddha. And of course, so are you. Our practice is to work with all of the ways in which this is simply not the case. 

The Scientist, Philosopher and Artist.

The Scientist.
Scientists like to experiment. They like to figure out what is really going on, and then to look to discover solutions to problems. The scientist pursues knowledge, but she does so through experience, trial and error.

The Philosopher.
The philosopher likes to examine and question. They want to know what is true, what is deceptive, and how these views influence and shape our world. The philosopher examines the very nature of our being and what can be known about our world by relying on reason, logic and critical thinking.

The Artist.
The artist is concerned with connection, relationships and impact. The artist conveys the value aspect of her work, her work creates meaning. Meaning is created through connection, change and impact. If no connection is made, or if no one is impacted, then the artist's work is undone. The artist's medium is reality, people and the web in which we are all connected.

Each of these three archetypes play a role in our practice.

When we sit down to meditate, we should sit down as a scientist. Your mind is your lab, what are you trying to solve?

Once we gain stability in our meditation, we should become a philosopher. Look deeper into your experience. Examine the nature of your own mind and the nature of reality. What is the true nature of the mind? What can be known through your experience?

When we stand from meditation, we stand as an artist. Use your daily life and interactions as the medium to create art. Share kindness, generosity and compassion. Use your trade to impact your community, create change and shape the world.

Don't be attached to any one role. Don't get caught up in the result or effect of your work. Simply attend to the different roles as they arise. There is a time to be a experiment, a time to analyze, and yes, even a time to dance.

I still have faith.

Faith. It's a bit of a touchy word in our culture. It has a lot of baggage. We often look down on faith as a sort of weakness or oddity.

But what is faith?

Mipham Rinpoche says that faith is an admiration for, longing towards, and trust in what is authentic and true. It is a support for determination.

What does faith mean to you?

You could have blind faith. You could believe in a blue cow that grants all of your wishes.  You could have great admiration and trust in that cow.  You could really strive to make sure that it was happy so that he would send down his bounty. (him or a her?)  

That would be a true determination of faith based on your perception of what was authentic and true. I think that this is the type of faith that many of us are wary of, simply because it doesn't make any sense. It doesn't hold up to the facts, to reality. It bears no semblance to our experience and everything else that we hold to be true.  

So if you are one that acts out of reason and logic, does faith play no role in your life?  Can you have faith and still rely on science and philosophy? 

Yes.  An emphatic yes. 

We can have great admiration for what is true and authentic based on reason and logic.  In fact, reason and logic can reaffirm our faith, deepen it. 

We can generate great longing for searching out and discovering what is authentic and true based on reason and logic. We can be scientists and skeptics, philosophers and debaters and still have faith.  The act of searching and analyzing and dissecting can be facets of our faith.

And we can trust in the reason and logic that we have used to come to our conclusions, and to look deeper still. 

The search for what is authentic and true demands faith.  It requires it, because faith supports determination and we need to be determined in our quest for what is authentic and true in order to reach our destination.

I am a man of faith.  Are you?

Meditation: A Panacea?

Meditation is all the rage lately.  Study after study has reported its benefits, from
health, to memory, to happiness and even sex.

Is it really the panacea that it is purported to be?

Meditation is a vehicle.  It brings you to where you want to go.  Just as you take a car to go hiking, or a plane to travel abroad, or a boat to go fishing; meditation is a vehicle.

If it is a vehicle, then it is really important that you have a clear intention for where you are going. 

The Buddha divided all types of meditation into two categories- worldly and transcendent.

Worldly meditation involves not only all of the health and wellness benefits listed above, but also includes meditation for the sake of cultivating specific mental states for your own benefit. 

Transcendent meditation is for the purpose of liberation.  Complete awakening has the function of liberating the mind from all suffering and ignorance, but its distinctive feature is the presence of great compassion. 

Great compassion fulfills its own intention by carrying out and ensuring the benefit of others.  In this way, transcendent meditation not only fulfills your own aims, it also fulfills the aims of others. 

It transcends the self.  It is greater in purpose, greater in scope.

With this type of meditation, your life becomes the vehicle for awakening in order to bring benefit to those around you.  Everything is included in your practice everything becomes part of the path.

What is your intention for meditation?