The traditional Buddhist analysis of wisdom (Skt: prajña) allows that there there are three interacting sources: hearing, cognitive consideration and spiritual practice. The earliest disciples of the Buddha were called the “Hearers” (Skt:śrāvaka). Part of the basic, internal form of meditation practice is the cultivation of the ability to listen. For the meditator this brings all the metaphysical theory directly into contact with real life and some of the forms of suffering. Through the sense of listening we can practice, develop and even verify all of the internal meditation skills. Listening in this way, without preference, judgement or opinion and utterly open, is an extremely powerful tool of conviviality.
Kindness is much more than some ideological good idea. Kindness is the energizing source of conviviality; the skills of living harmoniously together. The best acts of kindness are small and anonymous. Both initiators and recipients of such acts generate the appropriate views and behaviours that result from feeling connected to others. Obvious acts of kindness are also uplifting, of course, but the study of the self and the cultivation of wisdom need privacy. Fame and gain, the fruit of overt acts, subvert wisdom. That is why the moral imperative of Buddhist thought also requires meditation; without it we do not know how to handle the imperfections within generous impulses.
Properly done, Zen meditation involves the cultivation of receptivity. This is an intentional view which leaves nothing out. Congruent with that, in everyday life, Zen practice comprises cultivating the “Perfections”. Usually there are six of them but the first of the perfections is the perfection of generosity. Generosity supports all acts of kindness but is best embodied as a gift given freely, without even the expectation of merit. Generosity is an integrating, convivial force in human life.
In Buddhist cultures the most basic act of kindness is to cease doing unkind things. The Buddhist cultural equivalent of the famous “golden rule” is to stop doing to others what you would not like being done toward yourself. One of the best ways to understand meditation practice is to think of it as learning how to not act. The act of doing not-doing is deeply private in its essence, even if the resultant changes are apparent.
“Do-ing not-do-ing” is a confounding concept within a binary mindset. Such talk appears to be nonsense until the understanding emerges that the either/or reflex can be simply not brought into being. Doing not doing is an initial condition of kindness. As one of the planet's collective life forms, we recognize the critical importance and the essential irony of inter-independence.
Wayne Codling is a former Zen monastic and a lineage holder in the Soto Zen tradition. He teaches Zen style meditation in various venues around Victoria. Wayne’s talks and some writings can be found on his blog http://sotozenvictoria.wordpress.com
You can read more articles from our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking HERE
*This article was published in the print edition of the TImes Colonist on Saturday, April 23 2016
