"The bad news is you’re falling through the air"

Elsewhere I have boldly asserted that this was a profound meditation instruction so I thought I'd better explain what I meant by that.

“The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is there’s no ground.” --CTR

The comment is a quote of a Tibetan meditation master and teacher named Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (CTR). There is a lot on Rinpoche on the net so I wont do the biographical thing suffice to say that he was probably the first fully qualified master from Tibet to live in the West and understand its values, norms and mores. As with all teachings it was given at a specific time for a specific audience and we now interpret it according to our current time and understanding.

This quote is what is known as a "pith instruction". It speaks directly to an aspect of our experience and in so doing seeks to impart some understanding of our basic condition as humans. What Rinpoche is specifically referring to is known in the Budhhist teachings as the Second Noble Truth, the truth of the origin of suffering. The origin of suffering is our continual grasping at experience and the efforts to manipulate this experience to make it more the way we want it to be. Some typical examples would be changing the radio to listen to music or talk we prefer, moving around in out chairs to deal with the numb spots in our bums, changing partners or jobs or cars or other possessions to something more up to date or desireable etc, etc. Of course we may achieve some passing satisfaction but then our external or internal environment changes and we need to get the situation back in order so off we go again. This goes on all our lives, a never ending ceaseless restless attempt to reduce discomfort or be happy. Like a sky diver without a parachute we are continually reaching out to try to stop the momentum of our lives and be safe and secure in a perfect world. As soon as we have it all together shit happens and we need to sort it all out again.

This becomes patently clear in meditation. There is a never ending stream of mental activity and sooner or later we get caught up in it and end up day dreaming. There may be good dreams (happy peaceful experiences) or there may be bad dreams (unwanted memories, bad moods etc) or boredom or whatever. But between the daydreams is where we can begin to see the sky-like open awareness that is our real nature. This intrinsic awareness has no hard landing spots. It is always there, it has always been there and as far as I can tell will be there until I die (I cant imagine that so I cant extrapolate any further). So as we learn to rest in and trust our intrinsic "sky-ness" we learn that actually there never was anything to grasp at as it was just flickering on the screen of our awareness, a bit like a good musical comedy! But grasping is a strong habit and it operates at lightening speed and so we are usually grasping at something or other. It is a moment to moment process.

Hence the usefulness of Rinpoche's statement. It is a reminder that our nature is like the sky, open, clear, luminous and always there. There actually is nothing to worry about or grasp at. There is no earth rushing up to obliterate us. Its a testament to his genius and the depth of his realisation that he was so evocative with so few words.

BTW Im actually not qualified to comment on this stuff. Seek out a real meditation master if you can see value in my amateur explanation. For those who have more experience or learning in these areas than me forgive my arrogance and honour all of us by correcting my mistakes. May all being benefit! May the peak of all wisdom, the Dzogchen teachings thrive forever, may the true masters flourish in their endeavours on our behalves! May we all spontaneously rest in our true nature!

So a few things have been changing....

For the last weeks couple of months I have been working with a truly superb Dietician named Sean Kirsten. Sean's website and story are here http://www.lookgoodfitness.com.au/ He is on FB as well facebook.com/sean.kirsten I came to him through my BNI chapter, http://www.bniprophets.bnisite.com/ a great organisation which I wont go into here. Sean is certainly passionate about what he does and it was his enthusiasm and a "failed" blood test which started me working with him.

What has emerged from this happy coincidence is a complete overhaul of my attitudes to what goes in my mouth and consequently the condition of my whole body. It is true that you are what you eat. It cant be any other way really. As many know I am really very enthralled by the path of Buddhadharma and the evolution of my practice is leading me in some rather radical directions.

My desire to eat animal flesh took a major nosedive after HH Sakya Trizin gave a Green Tara empowerment in Sydney back in the early noughties. The problem was I didnt have the technology to pursue the lifestyle required by my attitudinal shift. A diet including gems such as Bacon and Egg rolls and BBQ chickens, Pizza and the occasional Hamburger with Chips ensured that my weight and key blood indicator levels kept going up. Beers were the panacea and the hit needed on the weekends to keep the keel relatively even, or so I thought. Middle age had struck big time. When I broke my leg and was laid up for six weeks the blood sugars starting getting out of control. When the Shingles struck it got worse. I was out of the habit of exercise but still eating way too much and poorly. It all came to a head a couple of years later when my insurance renewal came up and the size of the risk was quantified in dollars.

Cutting to the chase, its six weeks since I started working with Sean. He has helped validate my intuitions about animal proteins but more importantly provided the technology to make it work. I now eat maybe a quarter of what I used to. I now eat mainly raw plant foods. This is totally environmentally sustainable and far less cruel.

No being wants to die. All beings are essentially the same as me in that they are aware, try to avoid avoid pain and move towards pleasure. There is now so much evidence of inherent animal intelligence in animal studies from Apes that have been taught sign language to the studies on Chicken social systems that any other conclusions are suspect. Animal rights is the next great ethical frontier for humanity. I am no great tantric master that can help beings towards Buddahood by consuming them. I cant lie to them by doing Ganapuja. Im far better off withdrawing my support for the inherent cruelty of the meat industry. As Buddhists we must understand the first noble truth applies to all beings.

There is also plenty of basic medical research that proves that humans are better off with none or at best tiny amount of meat diet. Start here if you have got this far through this note and can bear a bit more. http://www.tcolincampbell.org/ If you want to get in touch with Sean let me know and I will arrange an introduction.

Humans dont need to, nor should they, eat meat.

I prostrate to the great, innate, blazing, immediate awareness - the Vajraguru, to the teachings that liberate all beings, and to the emissaries of the Guru, their companions and students. Bless me that I may in fact eventually become useful, free me from grasping, delusion and hatred. Bless all beings so that they may dwell in the great freedom of inherent suchness. May virtue and auspiciousness prevail!