In Eight Steps to Happiness Geshe-la says "'Self' and 'other' are relative terms, rather like 'this mountain' and 'that mountain ... 'This' and 'that' therefore depend upon our point of reference. This is also true of self and other. By climbing down the mountain of self, it is possible to ascend the mountain of other, and thereby cherish others as much as we presently cherish ourself."

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Where Is the Itch?

The hives I had for a few days itched. It was interesting to try to investigate where the itch really was. The more attention I paid to the itching, the more it itched. When I could put my mind elsewhere, there was no itch. Where did the itch go? Nowhere. It simply disappeared, like the elephant of last night's dream, in the classic example.

I imagine you can do the same experiment with pain, but unless it's mild, that's a harder test to do - it takes a much stronger mind. At the recent Western Canada Dharma Celebration in Vancouver, Gen-la Dekyong taught briefly about pain. She gave the example of a migraine and suggested applying compassion: Instead of focusing on yourself, think about all the others whose suffering is so much worse. If my notes are accurate, she used the phrase, "push your mind away from yourself." I'm thankful that I haven't had any pain yet; I hope when it comes that I am able to make that push.

It also helps to learn more about "non-ascertaining perceivers," which Geshe-la covers in the book Understanding the Mind. He has a really useful section called "Application of Non-Ascertaining Perceivers to Dharma Practice," which says in part:
At the moment, when we meet an attractive object, we usually pay considerable attention to it and try to gain as vivid perception of it as possible. ... Instead of paying so much attention to objects of delusion, it would be wiser to develop non-ascertaining perceivers with respect to them. Training in non-ascertaining perceivers with respect to objects of delusion is the practice of restraining the doors of the sense powers.
In Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life Shantideva advises us to remain like a block of wood whenever we encounter an object that stimulates strong delusions. ...  During the meditation session, it is necessary to practice non-ascertaining perceivers towards all the objects of the senses, so that we can pay full attention to the internal object on which we are meditating. ...
In a casual way, we like to say we "self-generate" as a piece of wood, even though that's not technically  correct.

The itching also seemed like an attachment teaching: The more you scratch, the worse it itches, the more you scratch. It's what I'm doing a lot of the time. You can hear your Mom saying, "Don't scratch!" but sometimes it seems like that would really solve the problem - just a light scratch here. Invariably I regret it later. Cravings entice us with promises of satisfaction they never deliver. As Atisha says, "Friends, the things you desire give no more satisfaction than drinking sea water, therefore practice contentment."

By the way, my hives are pretty much gone - disappeared back to wherever they came from - except for a couple, which are just scabs of their former selves.

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