Sunyatta Journals

Some languages, at least the ones I use daily, seem ill-equipped to speak spiritually and I find this can cause a lot of misunderstandings in conversations. We often stumble upon words which has no set definition but captures a general theme or general feeling, like love. One can say "I love steak" but that is a selfish, conditional love. You love steak because it tastes good, and because it satisfies you. On the other hand, one can love their family, their community, their god, unconditionally, and that is unselfish love. Actions borne out of this kind of love is not bound by the karmic wheel and thus they are pure. Yet, many are caught up in a literal dispute about love -- whether one loves the other, how much does one love the other -- without knowing which love they're talking about: conditional? or unconditional? We should take heed and know the difference, because one brings suffering, and the other brings calmness. "Freedom" is another spiritual word that...

My very upbringing, The people I'm friends with, The things I value in life, The party I tend to vote for, The countries that are my "enemies", The ideology that I support, Were all influenced by factors that existed before I was born. So, why attach myself to any of them? To assume that any of these things are "mine" is quite mistaken. They are all conditioned by the community, the ancestors, the country, the status of the world, and time itself. The right ideology and the right path should be independent of conditions. It is within all of us at this very moment.

The talk the Buddhadasa gave to retreatants in 1982 (in English!) is of great interest to me. My understanding is as such. Firstly: There must exist some rule that governs how things work. This seemingly obvious statement is quite powerful to me, because this rule doesn't care if you believe it or not, or whether you understand it or not. It will continue to carry on regardless. And secondly: If you understand this rule in its entirety, there is no reason to suffer. This is also deceptively simple but powerful. If you truly understand with your heart how things truly work, then you would be at peace with all things. It is worth nothing that you, your mind, and your attitude are also part of this rule. The understanding must be internal as well as external. The rule does not discriminate. I find this part of the talk quite logically distinct from the talks about the Buddha's noble truths, in that it does not assert what the rule is, but it simply tells you the self-evident chara...

Coming from a scientific background, I have always held a baseless view that spirituality is unscientific, but I have since come to an understanding that they are but one and the same. At the heart of science is the scientific method: you observe a phenomenon, but you do not rush to believing it to be a general rule. You first form a hypothesis based on what you observed, then design an experiment to test whether your hypothesis could be wrong. None of this process requires a sense of "me", or the ego. It is but a dance with reality. I've come to realize that spirituality, at least as taught to me by the Buddhadasa, shares a very similar process. Instead of observing a material phenomenon, you first observe suffering. Just like science, sometimes a remarkable event is missed and things simply pass by instead of being observed. Similarly, suffering may occur without your conscious knowledge, and you will miss a chance to understand it. However, if you are fortunate enough ...

People pleasers are often seen as being nice, but in reality, they never quite had the chance to find out if they actually are. I used to be one such person, and still am trying to improve. In trying to please everyone I met, I never quite figured out what is right (for me). Wrongs become right, and rights become wrong, all for the sake of validation. People pleasing is not only dangerous for my mental health, but it can also distort insight, resulting in unwise actions or speeches that may cause harm. I am thankful for the few in my life who accept me as I am, with no judgment. Although no one but myself can break the vicious cycle, their acceptance of me has helped me greatly. I do not feel like I need to please them, but instead, I want to do the right thing because I love them, and that is worth much more than any amount of self validation that I so craved.

"โลกพระศรีอาริยอยู่แค่ปลายจมูก" "The Maitreya Buddha's world is just at the tip of your nose" [1] .  -- The Buddhadasa Bhikkhu in  this  talk I have come across some people who believe Buddhism to be an escapist or isolationist philosophy, due to its focus on inward-thinking and mental cultivation, but I believe that view comes from a key misunderstanding: that there is a separate you and a separate me. Mindfulness and meditation seem like self-centered things, but when one reaches a certain level of clarity they'd understand that everyone's suffering is unavoidably connected. The separation is only arbitrary. Freeing one's own mind from suffering will also free it from causing the suffering of others. Once we're all free, we will no longer be driven by pettiness of you and me, yours and mine. We'll all care about each other as one. We will not do things that harm each other, because we love each other as we love ourselves. We will do this au...

The story of the preta was told to me as a kid as a way to deter me from breaking the precepts of Buddhism. As it was told to me, the preta is a hungry ghost who has large unusable hands because it inflicted violence upon others in its past life. It has needle-like mouth because it was gluttonous in its past life. Unable to do anything or eat anything it desires, it suffers greatly and passes suffering onto others. These physical attributes seem clearly superstitious, but now as an adult I come to the understanding that the preta is a metaphorical device to illustrate the power of cravings. Each of us can become a preta in this very life if we crave something we can never have. We are probably already familiar with how the cravings for the necessities of life can lead to "evil" deeds. But there are yet more subtle desires that can slip by unnoticed, such as the need for validation from others, the need to be the best or to be right, the need to be rid of all the things that h...

An interesting analogy occurred to me when I was discussing life's struggles with my friends. The topic of discussion was that of choice. Particularly, the choice we have when an overwhelming feeling occurs. When such a feeling occurs, the default path is to react instinctively to that feeling. If a strong fear or panic occurs, we may resort to avoidance or aggression. If a strong desire occurs, we may resort to deception, manipulation, or forcefulness to obtain the thing we desire. However, at every such moment, life presents a choice: do we react, or do we acknowledge the feeling and let it pass? Outwards? or inwards? This is the test can make or break your character as a human being. If we fail to acknowledge the feeling, we might end up seeing the same type of problem occurring again and again, because when the same type of feeling occurs, you will automatically react to it. Instead of seeing this type of repeated suffering as unfortunate, I am starting to see them as opportuni...

The New Year resolution is an interesting phenomenon. If anything, it is one of the more socially obvious reminders that our free will is often governed by shorter-term, more immediate desires. If we have absolute control over our free will, then none of us would need resolutions. The need for resolutions (at least the serious ones) arises when the mind realizes that it has strayed too far from the path of fulfillment. As such I believe resolutions serve a great purpose. However, I believe we have to also realize the driving force that makes us act against our best interests in the first place. Finding them, and observing them as they are, may be the very key to achieving your goals.