Category: Artifact

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Parable of the Snake

“Teacher, it is said you have spoken of the four reliances in relation to the parable of the snake. Could you explain the message in the parable and how it relates to the four reliances?”

“Indeed. Amid a certain community of monks there was a known prankster. One day, as the monks gathered in the courtyard for meditation, the prankster points and says, “Careful, there lies a snake.” Knowing the nature of the prankster, the skeptical monks looked to where he pointed and there they too saw a coiled snake. The monks took heed to stay clear of the snake.  One astute monk took notice and realized that the snake did not move, and from head to tail its girth seemed too uniform. As he cautiously approached the snake, he soon realized it to  be a coil of rope. Grabbing the rope, to show the others, the monk was bit on the hand by a snake that lay hid in the coil of rope.”

“As the monks first doubted the prankster’s statement, rely not merely on the person  but on the words.”

“As the monks, upon investigation, accepted what the prankster said, rely not merely on the words but on their meaning.”

“As the astute monk who on deeper reflection questioned  initial observations, rely not merely on provisional meaning but on definitive meaning.”

“As the astute monk who discovered  conceptual truth and experience differ, rely not merely on intellectual understanding but on direct experience.”

“Do you understand the message in the parable of the snake, my son?”

Wherein the student replied, “The snake that lies in the coils of a rope in the coils of the rope lies, likewise truth by truth is often hid.”

“Good. Good. Very good. You have understood.”

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The Five Aggregates

Dhamma wheel

skandha. (Pali,  khandha; Tibetan,  phung po). In Sanskrit, lit. “heap,” viz., “aggregate,” or “aggregate of being”; one of the most common categories in Buddhist literature for enumerating the constituents of the person. According to one account, the Buddha used a grain of rice to represent each of the many constituents, resulting in five piles or heaps. The five skandhas are materiality or form (RŪPA), sensations or feeling (VEDANĀ), perception or discrimination (SAṂJÑĀ), conditioning factors (SAṂSKĀRA), and consciousness (VIJÑĀNA). Of these five, only rūpa is material; the remaining four involve mentality and are collectively called “name” (NĀMA), thus the compound “name-and-form” or “mentality-and-materiality” (NĀMARŪPA). However classified, nowhere among the aggregates is there to be found a self (ĀTMAN). Yet, through ignorance (AVIDYĀ or MOHA), the mind habitually identifies one or another in this collection of the five aggregates with a self. This is the principal wrong view (DṚṢṬI), called SATKĀYADṚṢṬI, that gives rise to suffering and continued existence in the cycle of rebirth (SAṂSĀRA). Continue reading “The Five Aggregates”

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Quintessential

Circle complete ends 
Where it begins. 

Any coordinate plane
With curvature same,
Radius reciprocal. 

Measure of perimeter
To bisecting line though center, 
Irrational, transcendental. 

Quintessential measurement
Of rational transcendental, 
Devoid judgement, 
Present in contemplation, 
Compassion in perpetuation.
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Soñar Boriken

Jibaro lo soy, 
desde ayer hasta hoy. 

En brazos abrazados, 
canciones
de alegría
yo cantaria,
de los reflejos del mañana
en las alas de una paloma.

Olvidando lo olvidado,
palabras en el viento engendrado. 

Todavía cantando,
porque todavía lo soy.
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Māyā

Illusory singular irregularity
Of certainty’s regular singularity

Bound by 
Unknowable perpetual 
Boundless range,
Understood as
Abstraction of conceptual
Changeless change

Unattached Afflictions
Unattached Affections
Unattached Reflections  

At vertex of angle of incidence 
Thoughts reflect coincidence
Toward vantage at angle of reflection, 
From vector of perfection.
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SOME MATHEMATICAL THEOREMS ON PERSPECTIVE DRAWING

From: Chapter 10, Mathematics for the Nonmathematician, Morris Kline

Let us accept, then, the principle that the canvas must contain the same section that a glass screen placed between the eye of the painter and the actual scene would contain. Since the artist cannot look through his canvas at the actual scene and may even be painting an imaginary scene, he must have theorems which tell him how to place his objects on the canvas so that the painting will, in effect, contain the section made by a glass screen.

Suppose then that the eye at E (Fig. 10–8) looks at the horizontal line GH and that GH is parallel to a vertical glass screen. The lines from E to the points of GH lie in one plane, namely the plane determined by the point E and the line GH, for a point and a line determine a plane. This plane will cut the screen in a line, G′H′, because two planes which meet at all meet in a line. It is apparent that the line G′H′ must also be horizontal, but we can prove this fact and so be certain. We can imagine a vertical plane through GH. Since GH is parallel to the screen and the latter is also vertical, the two planes must be parallel. The plane determined by E and GH cuts these parallel planes, and a plane which intersects two parallel planes intersects them in parallel lines. Hence G′H′ is parallel to GH, and since GH is horizontal, so is G′H′. But GH was any horizontal line parallel to the screen. Hence the image on the screen of any horizontal line parallel to the screen or picture plane must be horizontal. Thus in a painting which is to contain what this glass screen contains, the line G′H′ must be drawn horizontally.

We can present practically the same argument to show that the image of any vertical line, which is automatically parallel to the vertical screen, must appear on the screen as a vertical line. Thus all vertical lines must be drawn vertically. Continue reading “SOME MATHEMATICAL THEOREMS ON PERSPECTIVE DRAWING”

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Dorje

True view is infinite and vast. 
Relax and release mind of thought.
Shatter that which arises, 
        with “p-hat!”
Transparent and clear at last, 
Recognize pure awareness sought,
Without notion such this or that. 

Meditate on rays of love and wisdom,
Rest in awareness beyond description. 
Abide by flow of primordial glow.
Decide with conviction absolute,
On one thing and one thing only, resolute. 

In action as the compassionate one, 
Momentary thoughts leave no trace, 
Like writing on ocean’s surface.
Arising and liberation become
natural and continuous cure,
Without trace and innately pure. 
With confidence in liberation of rising thoughts, succumb. 

For view is of three part in communion, 
Meditation is wisdom and love in union
Accompanied by action of compassion. 

(A reflective render on The Special Teaching of the Wise and Glorious King)
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A BASIC MEDITATION

Credit: John Myrdhin Reynolds (www.vajranatha.com/)

BASIC MEDITATION PRACTICE

The first thing we need to discover in meditation practice is something called mindfulness or mindful awareness. This is basic. Mindfulness is an awareness that is present together with our immediate experience, whether sensations, thoughts, or emotions. This awareness is not distracted or caught up in any secondary mental processes, but remains at the primary level of immediate experience.

The first exercise is called “mindfulness on breathing”. First sit down comfortably, on a cushion on the floor or on a chair, but making sure that the back is straight. This harmonizes the flow of psychic energy in the body. We will be sitting still and unmoving for a time. This is the opposite of our usual everyday habit of running around and being distracted. Relax and do some deep breathing in order to release stress and tension. But here we have relaxation with alertness, which is the opposite of being sleepy, drowsy, and dull. We are alert and fully awake. But sitting calmly and quietly.

We are not thinking about anything, but are open and globally aware. This is not absorption or trance or withdrawal of the senses. The senses are open and operating fully. This is what is meant by “clarity”. We ground and center ourselves just where we are in our immediate experience. Just be here now. This is like a tree, just being. It is nothing special. It is just sitting and being centered. It is not doing anything special. We are alert and aware without distractions. Distractions are what move us off center. They take us on a trip and we forget who and where we are. This just being present and aware is what is called mindfulness.

The ‘classical’ Buddhist exercise for mindfulness is fourfold: there is mindfulness on bodily sensations, mindfulness on feelings and emotions, mindfulness on thoughts, and mindfulness of subliminal processes. Mindfulness is just being present. It is self-remembering, a remembering to be aware, a coming back to center again and again. It is necessary first to develop this mindful presence so that we can engage in self-observation or introspection. We can be easily distracted; that is our habit and we continuously impose our conceptions on what we experience. So, it is necessary to have a focus for our awareness.

In this case, we begin with the physical body and focus our attention and our full concentration on our breathing, just the sensations and sounds of our breathing. Breathing is part of our entire dimension of energy. Breathing links our body and our mind. It is a system that is both automatic and voluntary. In this case, we are just breathing normally with our eyes closed and sitting quietly. We simply focus on our breathing. If we become distracted or if thoughts arise, simply come back to focusing on our breathing. Just watch this breathing, be in this breathing. We are not thinking about our breathing or judging it. We just let it be without elaborations. This is known as Anuprana-smriti, practicing mindfulness again and again on our breathing. In this way, we can discover our awareness.