The Logic of Faith by Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel

Author:Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shambhala
Published: 2018-02-27T05:00:00+00:00

When I think about the nature of pratityasamutpada, I am overcome with gratitude and awe. I might say that this aspect of my mind is what I cherish most—but it’s not really an aspect of mind. It is what I experience when I am not confused about who I am in the larger scheme of things. When I feel connected to the infinite nature of interdependent expression, I call that grace.

Maybe you are beginning to catch on to how the practices of pratityasamutpada help you see beyond a mistaken notion of a singular, permanent, or autonomous me. This seeing through the self is something many people have contemplated. In fact, Einstein once said that what humans single out as a separate self is a kind of optical delusion of our consciousness.

The meteorologist Edward Lorenz, when exploring the interconnectedness of weather patterns, asked his famous question: “Does a butterfly fluttering its wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” Because everything leans, something as delicate as the wings of a butterfly has reverberating effects on everything that happens everywhere in the entire cosmos and beyond. So imagine what that means for you too.

The investigations of the Middle Way tradition make it clear that autonomy will never be an option. So don’t waste your time trying to single yourself out of the bigger picture. You are not big, nor are you small. You are not important, nor are you insignificant. And you cannot be affirmed or denied. You are not the same as everything else, but neither are you separate. You are beyond the limitations of ordinary thinking, and you cannot be captured in thought.

So just in case you are still wondering, “But who am I then?” on behalf of the late Mr. Sagan I will respond in a way I think he would have agreed: “You are a part of the great nature of contingency, and everything you do matters.”

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