Problems Bared, Essays on Buddhism

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136 The most suitable environment to express what was impressed, is frequently not more than a token which reveals the connection, perhaps, without being able to reproduce the actuality. And that is the reason why we feel so frequently to be misfits in our surroundings, feelings of ambition, of impotence, of conflict, all symptoms of schizophrenia, or split-personality. But, the conflict itself may produce an accident which forces a complete change of attitude, of outlook, of approach—not reasoned, not planned, and hence without self-interest. And that may well be like the sudden opening of a door, a breaking down of a wall, a mental shock which disturbed the sleep and dream of self-complacency. Or that may be just that streak of light which brings into focus a detail hitherto unobserved, but which now completely alters the vision of the whole. There are various terms for that experience; intuition, insight, enlightenment, all of which, like inspiration, revelation, invention, are also products of evolution. No enlightenment is possible without the necessary preparation by intellect and emotion. No invention without scientific enquiry. No inspiration without perspiration. Enlightenment comes at the saturation point, but with a sudden invasion of the truth, which usually cannot take place because of our evasiveness our preoccupation, our search for security. In such a search we do not allow the truth to evolve. We expect a revelation as from some external source, when the truth has to evolve from within, till it bursts open as a flower with all its beauty and fragrance. Evolution has to grow from within, not towards a goal, not according to plan, but from sheer necessity, just as eye-sight was evolved as a reaction from within, to the irritation of the light without. What is needed is not so much a discovery, but a release of tension, a relaxation of intentional effort, an awareness of actuality, which then will naturally evolve into what is there already, but which could not be recognised on account of our intensive search,
137 our concentration on an ideal, our fixation of mind on preconceived ideas. It is not possible to speculate on the nature of the experience of enlightenment, because no speculation can ever be the experience itself. A memory of an experience is only a psychological hankering after a repetition for the sake of sense-gratification. If such psychological memory is there at all, it is the surest sign that there was no complete experience. Only the incompleteness of an experience will leave behind a residue of dissatisfaction, which makes the mind hunger for completion and the heart thirst for gratification. That is the stuff desire is made of, desire for the possession of a physical need which has become psychological greed. An experience can never be complete when the mind itself still sees the distinction between the experience as an event, and the experiencer as the subject. For, then there is no total awareness of the experience, but a partial awakening only, and a partial continuance of the dream of an “I”- satisfaction and continuation, which can only bring about further conflict. This happens when evolution is seen as a process of adaptation, a struggle for survival, a selection for the purpose of continued existence. Then it is not the understanding of the experience, but at most a sensation thereof, which can be stored up in the psychological memory, to be called back to reinforce the self when interest in life falls low. But when an experience is understood to be an aspect of the process of evolution, without a clinging to the sensation, because there is no substance in the phenomenon, no experiencer in the experience, no actor in the act—then such an experience can become truly a revelation, just as an open door reveals the freedom of nature. To experience that awareness, it would be folly to cling to the door; it would be equally folly to cling to the “I” as experiencer, for that is not the freedom, not the experience, not the enlightenment.
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Copyright Notice This work is licen
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4 “What I would really like to do
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Introduction This collection of ess
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9 dhism. True Buddhism cannot be fo
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The Problem of Conflict We are livi
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What is that goal of happiness, the
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For many it will be a struggle for
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18 control them. Fear, therefore, l
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20 feeling of confidence and securi
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22 (sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā), bu
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24 live means to think deeply, to f
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26 places. Then there is a problem
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28 sibility of knowledge is an obst
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30 there is no logic in dreams, no
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32 It is not a striving with a desi
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34 an experience is really lived th
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36 nor perceived, which is not conc
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Existence I: Of Material Life No ph
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41 ness. Matter is the non-mental,
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43 cles of a body are not scattered
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45 that matter has a mind of its ow
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Existence II: Of Personality There
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49 of a particular phenomenon, but
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51 which is peculiar to the individ
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53 to be fettered; it does not want
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The Psychology of Rebirth All relig
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57 so, this desire for continuation
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59 deluded mind has something to fe
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61 waves and eddies pass away, and
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63 Then one might begin to seek els
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66 there is no scientific view whic
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68 ditions in the past, producing e
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70 swift movement of javana is only
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72 ture becomes discernible in the
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Dependent Origination II The scheme
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77 course is that the wounds become
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79 be understood then, that this co
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81 But even this delight. and zest
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83 tivities (saṅkhāra) which are
Page 88 and 89: 86 What is needed is not political
Page 90 and 91: 88 First, the Buddha’s very first
Page 92 and 93: 90 walker thereon” (maggaṁ atth
Page 94 and 95: 92 Yet, there is a difference in th
Page 96 and 97: 94 towards the unveiling of a delus
Page 98 and 99: 96 our mental pressure, in the hope
Page 100 and 101: 98 great detail, in order to build
Page 102 and 103: 100 the mind agreeable and amenable
Page 104 and 105: 102 strange objects for concentrati
Page 106 and 107: 104 conflict (dukkha) only, because
Page 109 and 110: Determinism and Free Will In this a
Page 111 and 112: 109 doubt; as post factum there can
Page 113 and 114: 111 volition arises in dependence o
Page 115 and 116: 113 Evil, then, is that which does
Page 117 and 118: 115 clinging. But intention, which
Page 119 and 120: Synthesis of Mind and Matter In thi
Page 121 and 122: 119 the last century was all-round
Page 123 and 124: 121 fact, it would appear that man
Page 125 and 126: 123 with its constant frictions and
Page 127 and 128: 125 ling power (indriya) which is t
Page 129 and 130: Evolution and Beyond Man’s recent
Page 131 and 132: 129 different classes, or are they
Page 133 and 134: 131 analogy just a little while mor
Page 135 and 136: 133 with himself and through himsel
Page 137: 135 nity to burst forth, in a way s
Page 141: About the Author Henri van Zeyst wa
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Problems Bared, Essays on Buddhism

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