Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte and#8220;Everything Just Beginningand#8221; is by Amaraketu from the talk and#8220;Doubt as Path.and#8221; Beginning with a quote from Sungsan, he reminds us that we donand#8217;t know whatand#8217;s going to happen, everything is just beginning.
This is a preview to next Saturdayand#8217;s full length podcast.
Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2005.
[Music] Dharma Vites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for real life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, come and join us at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. Thank you and happy listening. [Music] There's a Zen master who is, I think it's Korean, called Song Sam. And he's written a book called Only Don't Know. And there's a little quote here, which I want to read. "Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed, that is human. When you are born, where do you come from?" Who can tell me that? Where do we come from? "When you die, where do you go?" You can tell me that, I don't know. And not only that, but between those two comings and goings, do you really know what's going to happen? Have you any idea what might happen? I don't, and furthermore, when it does, I'm usually very surprised, whatever it is. Because the next moment could be just about anything. I could run away right now, and that would surprise you. [Laughter] In fact, I wondered about doing that as a teacher, but maybe it would have been better. I don't know. Anyway, so he says, "Don't understand, don't know. That's the place to be." The Buddha himself wouldn't answer questions about what happened before and after life. That wasn't really his point. The point was, can you act now with any kind of confidence? Can you act for the good of beings now? Can you save yourself through your own efforts from suffering by steering this path between extremes? Life is like a floating cloud, which appears. Death is like a floating cloud, which disappears. The floating cloud originally does not exist. Coming, going, death, life are also like that. But there is one thing which always remains clear and pure, not dependent on life and death. What is the one, pure thing? So, I'm saying, embracing doubt, is the way to move in the direction of the provisionally held response that reality demands of us. We could argue that any kind of view is an attempt for certainty, any kind of view. And sure, we need them provisionally, and I'm not saying we can live without any view. I know that within less than half a second, I've made a view about something and somebody. I can't stop it. That's what my mind does. The question is, do I live as if that were true? Do I come off that or do I say, okay, thank you for that information. Now then, let's see. So, I'm not talking about cynical doubt that paralyzes, that chokes off the possibility of being creative. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about how to live in the open dimension, which is what Zen practice comes from, if you like. You sit with the knowledge that everything is provisional, really, that everything is just beginning. There was a great phrase. Everything is always just beginning, just beginning. So, at no point can you say, good, that's that. Something is beginning, and then something else begins. Realizing that we're inherent meaning-makers, and that's our tendency. We'll make patterns where we see them. We make them in the stars, we make them between us, we make them in everything that we do. Our language is about pattern, and it's necessary to survive. But we must see past that. And that's what we're doing here as Dharma practitioners, to grow wise and compassionate. Our meanings and patterns left to themselves will divide and separate. We see this all over the world. And we'll strive to ensure our survival is ego-centered beings, which, of course, we're trying to go beyond. Sometimes that very trying is another topic for a talk, I think. Doubt and questioning the very meaning-maker will eventually lead to its collapse and let in freedom and the ability to simply act for the benefit of all life, with no more uncertainty and no need to find certainty. There is just open, compassionate action, and that's what I aspire to. We hope you enjoyed the talk. Please come and help us keep this free at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. And thank you. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]
