Listening to the Heart by Kittisaro

Author:Kittisaro [Thanissara and Kittisaro]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-58394-840-8
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Published: 2014-11-03T16:00:00+00:00

TEACHINGS FROM THE DEPTH

Develop a mind, which rests on nothing whatsoever.

—Huang Po

The Diamond Sutra states, “All conditioned dharmas are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, like dewdrops and a lightning flash; contemplate them thus.” All the dharmas, all our experiences, come and go; they’re like shadows. Are shadows isolated entities? A shadow might look like a thing, but it is intimately connected with light that is cast off another object. It’s not separate; it’s linked to something else. All conditioned dharmas are like dewdrops, they are like jewels on the lawn, but are they independent entities? They’re there, but when the sun rises they evaporate. They’re there and then they’re gone. Are we separate selves? We might think we are, but other things, like the sun, the air, the nourishment we take in, all continually sustain and support us.

The same is true for lightning. In the Drakensberg Mountains where Dharmagiri hermitage is nestled, amazing lightning storms build up in the afternoon during summertime. When they continue into the night, it evokes a sense of awe. Extraordinary bright flashes, tinged with a purple haze, light up the darkness. The lightning flashes are unexpected; you never know where the next one is going to be. It’s exhilarating, waiting for the next strike. You can’t guess, but when it comes, you try and catch sight of it. It’s only there for an instant. In the end, it’s stressful to try and catch the uncatchable, to hold for a moment longer what is over in a flash. It took me a while to notice that the lightning and thunder keep dissolving into an immense space and a great silence. The lightning’s there, and then it’s gone. The thunder’s there, and then it’s gone. We can’t capture the thunder and the lightning, but we can appreciate the ephemeral thrill of their appearance. We can rest and enjoy their flickering dissolution into the unmoving blackness, depth, and silence.

We tend to know only the conditioned world of appearances, the world of impermanence. But trying to find security in conditions is like trying to hold on to a lightning bolt, not wanting it to change. It’s like asking the dewdrops not to evaporate. If we contemplate thus, however, we are aware of the evanescent nature of phenomena. We realize that language is misleading, implying a solidity and separateness where there isn’t any. The Buddhist word for thus is tatha. It means knowing things as they are, in their suchness. When we’re thus, reflecting rather than reacting, we realize the lightning flash dissolves back into immensity. If we’re clinging to the lightning flash, it’s stressful, but if there is non-clinging, letting go, we are at ease and free. Contemplating thus, we’re still and peaceful in the midst of movement, not grasping or rejecting, not afraid. The lightning is there, but we can also appreciate the immensity from which it came, the infinite blackness. We can rest and abide in the suchness, and appreciate the flashes, the dewdrops, the myriad transformations of life.

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