Dharma and Hailey

RELS 307 - Buddhism - Dictionary Journal

[kharmachanic]

3/27

The ego is so deceptive in the way it manufactures self before else.

[kharmachanic]

BUDDHISM

Buddhism isn't pessimistic; understanding suffering is the gateway to understanding living.

[kharmachanic]

WISDOM

Wisdom becomes our causal condition.

[kharmachanic]

WISDOM

the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. (X)

“True wisdom is to directly see and understand for ourselves” (X)

Wisdom is knowing what sort of compassion to apply to a situation. As we talked about in class, just because I know that a man catcalling a woman on the streets is wrong, does not mean that I need to show him kind compassion and try to engage in a casual educational conversation about the situation. Wisdom means I know that in order for the man to change his ways, someone needs to stand up to him in a way that will shake the way he holds his beliefs. Wisdom means I know that responding to him sternly and scolding his actions is actually applying the kind of compassion that will lead him to greater wisdom on how to treat women.

[kharmachanic]

WISDOM

Wisdom is alive only as long as it is lived.

[kharmachanic]

THE THREE ROOT POISONS

“These are the essence of all the delusions and negative workings of life that impede the realization of our full potential for happiness and creativity." (X)

“Anger is the violent impulses that spring from the same egocentric orientation.”

ME: Self-destructive emotions that we can choose to act on or not

“Ignorance of the true nature of life”

ME: Ignorance is what drives us to becoming in this life

“we look for fulfillment through acquisition and possession (of objects, fame, power, and so on). Greed is the uncontrolled impulse to fulfill these desires”

ME:Greed is trying to make this moment for me

If you are ignorant of reality and practice wisdom, you get Dukkha.

[kharmachanic]

4/23

Jay: What is life like if we are sensitive to its temporality? How do we treat ourselves; others?

[kharmachanic]

5/1

There is something unique about this nexus, but there is also something not unique about it -- this moment, this experience

[kharmachanic]

some more Radical Reimagination...

“You have to decenter to find the center”

“there is thinking but no thinker – get away from the nouns. Use the verbs”

--Jay

[kharmachanic]

TATHATA

Q: What is Tathata?

A: The The. 

“All the representations of who we are, are just representations, not the reality. “ (X)

Just the way it is as it is…not it’s portrayal, it’s memory, just what it is.

[kharmachanic]

SYMPATHETIC JOY

“the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people's well-being rather than begrudging it” (X)

My definition: Sympathetic Joy is being happy for someone even if you stand to gain nothing from experiencing the emotion.

I found out about two weeks ago that I received the study abroad scholarship for the International Studies program. I knew another friend in the program had applied. I was hesitant to tell her at first, because I envisioned being in her position: I could picture myself feeling jealous and discouraged by the decision of the board not selecting me for the scholarship. I wanted to keep it under wraps. Well, as it turns out, the same day I found out I was receiving it, my friend and I ran into our program director and proceeded to congratulate me in person and talk about the scholarship. My friend was so excited for me when she heard the news. I guess it was a lesson for me as well, that I had found friends who would no longer see the competition in such an experience. It was time for us to celebrate as friends our achievements, regardless of us being each other’s competition.

[kharmachanic]

SUNYATA

“It is important for us to avoid the misapprehension that emptiness is an absolute reality from which the illusory world emerges… it’s not some kind of [entity] out there somewhere… emptiness must be understood as ‘empty of intrinsic or independent existence’…form’s ultimate nature… (It) does not imply non-existence of phenomena but the emptiness of phenomena…its ultimate mode of being…the basis that allows form [to] arise as emptiness.”          —H. H. The Dalai Lama, Buddhadharma Quarterly, Fall, 2002

Sunyata is not “woo-woo” dream world. It is simply a reminder to us to realize that our phenomena are not self-determining, and in fact they are not self-standing either….

For example, is a car still a car after we disassemble it? What makes a car a car? There is no essence of car in each separate piece, only when we assemble them and put a name to it.

[kharmachanic]

SAMSARA

The term can be literally translated as “continuous movement.”

 the cycle of life, which includes birth, living, death and returning to life. (X)

My definition: The Buddhist understanding that rebirth is driven by the law of karma. If one achieves nirvana, then one escapes the cycle that is samsara.

[kharmachanic]

RENUNCIATION

 “It is to pass from gross, entangling pleasures to an exalted happiness and peace, from a condition of servitude to one of self-mastery.” (X)

Renunciation – NOT equal to the path of aestheticism; not giving everything up.

A part of the path to Awakening.

Renunciation is making changes in one’s life to reduce one’s unwholesome cravings and desires.

[i-dah-buddha]

Realize:

[i-dah-buddha]

i-dah-buddha:

to fully embody the wisdom/compassion in one’s heart/mind, speech and action.

-Jay Feldman

to understand and become aware; to become real

-Merriam-Webster

[kharmachanic]

4/17

I don’t want to believe that the peple doing bad things and getting away with it don’t pay, no mental dukkha or guilt, questioning their actions/motives…Maybe bad people exist to remind us of where we don’t want to be?

[kharmachanic]

RADICALLY RE-IMAGINE RELATIONSHIP

Radically reimagined relationship – “uproot the way we understand" our states of being.

The inescapability of reality of our interconnectivity

Buddhahood

“It is hard indeed to notice anything for which the languages available to us have no description”

We write ourselves into a corner by using the terms “one” or “we.” The English language has its limitations. To radically reimagine a relationship is to take the first step in the direction of evaluating the water that we as fish swim through every day without noticing we’re breathing it.