The art of synthesis that activates deeper understanding is a skill in which Thomas A. Forsthoefel excels. His selections from the Dalai Lama’s many works into The Dalai Lama: Essential Writings are masterfully juxtaposed to illuminate meaning. Over the next two weeks, I will be quoting from Foresthoefel’s compendium so that readers may experience this first-hand. To gain maximum benefit, please read both this and next week’s post.
Ultimately, all our difficulties arise from one basic illusion. We believe in the inherent existence of ourselves and all other phenomena. We project, and then cling to, an idea of the intrinsic nature of things, an essence that phenomena do not actually possess. Let us take a simple chair as an example. We believe, without fully recognizing this belief, that there is such a thing as an essential chair-ness, a quality of a chair that seems to exist among its parts: the legs, seat, and back. In the same way, we each believe there to be an essential and continuous “me” pervading the physical and mental parts that make up each of us; it does not actually exist.
Our grasping at this inherent existence is a fundamentally mistaken perception that we must eliminate through meditation practices of the wisdom path. Why? Because it is the root cause of all our misery. It lies at the core of all our addictive emotions.
We can abandon this illusion of an essential quality only by cultivating its direct antidote, which is the wisdom that realizes the nonexistence of that quality. Again, we cultivate this profound wisdom, as we cultivate humility to uproot pride. We must first become aware of the improper way we perceive ourselves and other phenomena; we can then cultivate a correct perception of phenomena….By directly realizing our lack of an inherent nature, we uproot the very basis of self-grasping that lies at the core of all our suffering ~ An Open Heart, 85-86
What is the value of these observations? They have a number of important implications. Firstly, when we come to see that everything we perceive and experience arises as a result of an indefinite series of interrelated causes and conditions, our whole perspective changes. We begin to see that the universe we inhabit can be understood in terms of a living organism where each cell works in balanced cooperation with every other cell to sustain the whole. If, then, just one of these cells is harmed, as when disease strikes, that balance is harmed and there is danger to the whole. This, in turn, suggests that our individual well-being is intimately connected both with that of all others and with the environment within which we live. It also becomes apparent that our every action, our every deed, work, and thought, no matter how slight or inconsequential it may seem, has an implication not only for ourselves but for all others, too.
Furthermore, when we view reality in terms of dependent origination, it draws us away from our usual tendency to see things and events in terms of solid, independent, discrete entities. This is helpful because it is this tendency which causes us to exaggerate one or two aspects of our experience and make them representative of the whole reality of a given situation while ignoring its wider complexities.
Such an understanding of reality as suggested by this concept of dependent origination also presents us with a significant challenge. It challenges us to see things and events less in terms of black and white and more in terms of a complex interlinking of relationships, which are hard to pin down. And it makes it difficult to speak in terms of absolutes. Moreover, if all phenomena are dependent on other phenomena, and if no phenomena can exist independently, even our most cherished selves must be considered not to exist in the way we normally assume. Indeed, we find that if we search for the identity of the self analytically, its apparent solidity dissolves even more readily than that of the clay pot or the present moment [which rapidly dissolves into the past]. For whereas a pot is something concrete we can actually point to, the self is more elusive: its identity as a construct quickly becomes evident. We come to see that the habitual sharp designation we make between “self” and “others” is an exaggeration. ~ Ethics for the New Millennium, 40-42
The “identitylessness” of phenomena points rather to the way in which things exit: not independently but in a sense interdependently. ~ Ethics for the New Millennium, 45
If the self had intrinsic identity, it would be possible to speak in terms of self-interest in isolation from that of others. But because this is not so, because self and others can only be understood in terms of relationship, we see that self-interest and others’ interest are closely interrelated. Indeed, within this picture of dependently originated reality, we see that there is no self-interest completely unrelated to others’ interest. Due to the fundamental interconnectedness which lies at the heart of reality, your interest is also my interest. From this it becomes clear that “my” interest and “your” interest are intimately connected. In a deep sense, they converge. ~ Ethics for the New Millennium, 47
If we examine our emotions, our experiences of powerful attachment or hostility, we find that at their root is an intense clinging to a concept of self. Such a self we assume to be independent and self-sufficient, with a solid reality. As our belief in this kind of self intensifies, so does our wish to satisfy and protect it.
Let me give you an example. When you see a beautiful watch in a shop, you are naturally attracted to it. If the salesperson were to drop the watch, you would think, “Oh dear, the watch has fallen.” The impact on you would not be very great. If, however, you bought the watch and have come to think of it as “my watch,” then, were you to drop it, the impact would be devastating. You would feel as if your heart were jumping out of you. Where does this powerful feeling come from? Possessiveness arises out of our sense of self. The stronger our sense of “me,” the stronger is our sense of “mine.” This is why it is so important that we work at undercutting our belief in an independent, self-sufficient self. Once we are able to question and dissolve the existence of such a concept of self, the emotions derived from it are also diminished. ~ An Open Heart, 152
… all things and all events, including all elements of one’s individual experience, come into being merely as a result of the aggregation of causes and conditions. Understanding this, in turn, can lead us to see that all things are by nature interdependent, originating entirely as a result of other things and other factors.
… the very fact that something is dependently originated means that it is necessarily devoid of an essential, or independent, reality. For it something is fundamentally dependent, by logical necessity it must be devoid of having a nature that is independent of other phenomena, of existing independently. Thus it is said that anything that is dependently originated must also be, in actual fact, empty. ~ Essence of the Heart Sutra, 30
Pages 58-61, The Dalai Lama: Essential Writings.
Thomas A. Forsthoefel, Ph.D., is associate professor and chair of Religious Studies at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania. The religions and philosophies of India are the focus of his work.
