![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I’ve run out of books by Thich Nhat Hanh, so I am back to Pema Chodron, When things fall apart.
It’s interesting that the practices are so similar between the two teachers, yet the emphasis is really quite different. This chapter is about fear. She also does start with different techniques in Buddhism. “With insight meditation, we begin practicing mindfulness, being fully present with all our activities and thoughts. With Zen practice, we are teachings on emptiness and our challenge to connect with the open, unbounded clarity of mind. The Vajrayanana teachings introduce us to the notion of working with the energy of all situations, seeing whatever arises as inseparable from the awaken state. Any of these approaches might hook us in fuel or enthusiasm to explore further, but if we want to go beneath the surface and practice without hesitation, it is inevitable that at some point, we will experience fear.“
Later she says that fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth. “During a long retreat, I had what seemed to be the earthshaking revelation that we cannot be in the present and run our storylines at the same time. It sounds pretty obvious, I know, but when you discover something like this for yourself, it changes you. Impermanence becomes vivid in the present moment; so do compassion and wonder encourage. And so does fear. In fact, anyone who stands at the edge of the unknown, fully in the present without reference point, experiences groundlessness. That’s when our understanding goes deeper, when we find the present moment is a pretty vulnerable place, and this can be completely unnerving and completely tender at the same time. “
What we’re talking about is getting to know fear, becoming familiar with fear, looking at right in the eye – not as a way to solve problems, but as a complete undoing of old ways of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and thinking. The truth is that when we really begin to do this, we’re going to be continually humbled. There’s not gonna be much room for the arrogance that holding onto ideals can bring. The arrogance that inevitably does arise is going to be continually shut down by our own courage to step forward a little further. The kind of discovery is that are made through practice. Have nothing to do with believing in anything. They have much more to do with having the courage to die, the courage to die continually.… As one student so eloquently put it, “Buddha nature, cleverly, disguised as fear, kicks her ass into being receptive. “
So the next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where the courage comes in. Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear.… The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find something that is not what we thought. That’s what we’re going to discover again and again and again. Nothing is what we thought. I can say that with great confidence. Emptiness is not what we thought. Neither is mindfulness or fear. Compassion – not what we thought. Love. Buddha nature. Courage. These are code words for things we don’t know in our minds, but any of us could experience them. These are words that Point to what life really is when we let things fall apart, and let ourselves be nailed to the present moment.”
It’s interesting that the practices are so similar between the two teachers, yet the emphasis is really quite different. This chapter is about fear. She also does start with different techniques in Buddhism. “With insight meditation, we begin practicing mindfulness, being fully present with all our activities and thoughts. With Zen practice, we are teachings on emptiness and our challenge to connect with the open, unbounded clarity of mind. The Vajrayanana teachings introduce us to the notion of working with the energy of all situations, seeing whatever arises as inseparable from the awaken state. Any of these approaches might hook us in fuel or enthusiasm to explore further, but if we want to go beneath the surface and practice without hesitation, it is inevitable that at some point, we will experience fear.“
Later she says that fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth. “During a long retreat, I had what seemed to be the earthshaking revelation that we cannot be in the present and run our storylines at the same time. It sounds pretty obvious, I know, but when you discover something like this for yourself, it changes you. Impermanence becomes vivid in the present moment; so do compassion and wonder encourage. And so does fear. In fact, anyone who stands at the edge of the unknown, fully in the present without reference point, experiences groundlessness. That’s when our understanding goes deeper, when we find the present moment is a pretty vulnerable place, and this can be completely unnerving and completely tender at the same time. “
What we’re talking about is getting to know fear, becoming familiar with fear, looking at right in the eye – not as a way to solve problems, but as a complete undoing of old ways of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and thinking. The truth is that when we really begin to do this, we’re going to be continually humbled. There’s not gonna be much room for the arrogance that holding onto ideals can bring. The arrogance that inevitably does arise is going to be continually shut down by our own courage to step forward a little further. The kind of discovery is that are made through practice. Have nothing to do with believing in anything. They have much more to do with having the courage to die, the courage to die continually.… As one student so eloquently put it, “Buddha nature, cleverly, disguised as fear, kicks her ass into being receptive. “
So the next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where the courage comes in. Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear.… The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find something that is not what we thought. That’s what we’re going to discover again and again and again. Nothing is what we thought. I can say that with great confidence. Emptiness is not what we thought. Neither is mindfulness or fear. Compassion – not what we thought. Love. Buddha nature. Courage. These are code words for things we don’t know in our minds, but any of us could experience them. These are words that Point to what life really is when we let things fall apart, and let ourselves be nailed to the present moment.”