Dependent Origination

"he who sees dependent origination sees the Dharma and he who sees the Dharma sees the Buddha."

"The progression of causes and conditions is the reality which applies to all things, from the natural environment, which is an external, physical condition, to the events of human society, ethical principles, life events and the happiness and suffering which manifest in our own minds.

These systems of causal relationship are part of the one natural truth. Our happiness within this natural system depends on having some knowledge of how it works and practicing correctly within it, through addressing problems on the personal, social, and environmental levels.

Given that all things are interconnected, and all are affecting each other, success in dealing with the world lies in creating harmony within it."

"The cycle of Dependent Origination is a description of a natural process, not a path of practice. However, the first set of right and wrong practices described above describes practice in terms of the cycle of Dependent Origination. Is there a contradiction here? It may be answered that the Dependent Origination cycle illustrated here (and it is only illustrated as a form of practice in this one Sutta) seeks to describe practical application. The Commentators to this Sutta ask the question: ignorance may be a condition for good actions, or merit (puññabhisankhara), or it may serve to generate the state of highly stable concentration (aneñjabhisankhara); why then is it said to be wrong practice? Answering their question, the Commentators state that when people are motivated by a desire to be or to get something, no matter what they may do -- whether they develop the five higher knowledges (abhiñña) or the eight attainments (samapatti) -- it is all wrong practice. On the other hand, those who are motivated by an aspiration for Nibbana, who are aiming for relinquishment, or the liberated mind, rather than attaining or obtaining something, will always have right practice, even when doing such minor actions as making offerings"


Dependent Origination has always made me feel like I am stuck in circles, my mind refusing to be pinned down to a true grasping. Seriously, I've been doing this for 20+ years, at what point am I going to get this!?

non duality

last week I was heavy with fever and deep thoughts...I started thinking that if the universe is perfect, containing just as much positive and negative in its balance, then positive can never overcome negative, they merely exist in unison. by feeding positivity, you then also feed negativity...and vice versa.

and if you are feeding both simultaneously, are they not the same animal? Of course they are. There is no separation. It exists, as do we, a part of the whole.

From the Upanishads:

"Now this self, verily, is the world of all beings. In so far as he gives shelter and food to men, he becomes the world of men. In so far as he gives grass and water to the animals, he becomes the world of animals. In so far as beasts and birds, even to the ants find a living in his houses he becomes their world. Verily, as one wishes non-injury for his own world, so all beings wish non-injury for him who has this knowledge.”

And then, when I think about the Qabalah Tree of Life, the one thing that always stuck with me was the fact that we are all ether, we just need to stop fooling around with the trickery of ones mind:

"The you that you think is you is not you. It is a dream you. In fact, the you that you think is you is a dreamer inside a dreamer Inside a dreamer inside a dreamer. You are the King of the universe who has fallen asleep and is dreaming he is the Queen who has fallen asleep and is dreaming she is the Prince, who has fallen asleep and is dreaming he is a sleeping Princess." ~ The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford

Are we so fooled by our 'intelligence'?

And once we fully accept non dualistic thoughts as an optional mind frame, do we not truly transcend?

If the universe is perfect, then we have nothing to fear...?

"If anyone listens to this discourse and is neither filled with alarm nor awe nor dread, be it known that such a one is of remarkable achievement."

but then what is our responsibility? what is our contribution? to love the whole...to embrace the whole and contribute to the whole as your divinity dictates?

I need a guru to help me sort through :)

whats next?

There are robins singing at my window
Spring emerging
reaching up through the earth
more life, less cold.

There are weapons being fired
wars rising,
falling from the sky
more strife, less life.

There are lies pouring from the air waves
propaganda ensues,
playing on numb minds
more greed, less truth.

There are winds calling for change
vibrations rising…or falling
Supermoons, tsunamis, tectonic shifts, cosmic alignments.

and…the trees are falling
their skeletal remains laid across sprouting green.

and…the sky is filled unnaturally
with mechanic butterflies who visit when we sleep.

and…the world is filled with pending doom
It quietly attacks us
while we paint ourselves happy.

Everything is heightened
like hairs standing up,
the static pull
has every living thing in a state of
Whats Next?

But…
There are robins singing at my window
And soft murmurs on warm breezes
There are daffodils blooming
And trees covered in sweet red buds
And the green is spreading in the peripheral
And the luxuries and promise of Spring flaunts itself at my feet
While my heart bleeds
and the vibration penetrates my vision
dreading whats next.

far

“and the masks, that the monsters wear, to feed upon their prey”

so far fetched,
so far off,
so unlike your reality

The truth of you is toxic
Overly sedated,
judgmental
and bitter.

The truth of your discontent
lies somewhere in the folds
that barrier you,
and enfold your pain.

so far gone
so far away
so sad to watch.

And the truth
for me
is revealing itself
at our every encounter.
You and I no longer connect.
You and I don’t hear the same things.
Don’t vibe right,
Don’t have much in common,
other than the years.

One by one,
the players fall
The king,
The queen
The jester
The nursemaid
And I am unable to recognize
their decent until I have been pulled into it.
My loyalty is blind
My empathy is wide
and each of you
exploits my innards
to ease your own pain.

To view this circle from the outside
we are all poisonous,
venomous beings
careening around love and hate.

I choose to self preserve.
I choose distance.

It is no longer my desire to get you to get me.
It is no longer my expectation to get love from blood.

so far fetched,
so far off,
so far gone.

Your masks are slipping.
I see your truth.
And finally I see how your truth,
infects his truth,
and her truth,
and our truth.

Go ahead,
Throw your knives.
Get your jabs in.
CREATE what you will.
I am no victim.

I have wings…
pulled by magnetic forces
to fulfill my destiny

I have wings…
that vibrate fearlessly
and open new dimensions.

Far away from you.