Surfing the Himalayas

 

“Zen Buddhists believe that when we think about something conceptually, we cut ourselves off from its true essence. From a Zen point of view, it is only by going beyond our limited concept of something, and experiencing its ‘suchness,’ or essential nature that we really come to know what a thing, experience or understanding truly is.

“The Zen Buddhist monks use concentration techniques to rid themselves of concepts. They believe enlightenment lies just beyond words, in the things and experiences of daily life that are right in front of us at every moment. In short, according to Zen doctrine, happiness comes when we rid ourselves of the concepts that society, language and structured thinking have given us.

Enlightenment - Chopping wood before enlightenment, chopping wood after enlightenment

“Most people who read about or study enlightenment have a preconceived notion of what enlightenment is … enlightenment is not a concept.

… enlightenment allows you to perceive things differently. Perception is the key to everything.

“Before you become enlightened,” Master Fwap continued patiently, “the world appears to be three-dimensional, dull and boring. But in reality, the world is not three-dimensional, and if you are at all aware, it is anything but boring.

“Life is composed of millions of dimensions. To an awakened mind, life and even the most repetitive tasks in daily living can never be dull and boring at all, because infinity exists in all things.

“Before he became enlightened, the monk’s thoughts, concepts and mental routines blocked his perception of the infinite brightness that exists within all things.

“After his enlightenment, while the monk’s body might still have been chopping wood and carrying water, his mind was constantly roaming through the ecstatic dimensions of light. So the point of the Zen phrase (Chopping wood before enlightenment, chopping wood after enlightenment) is that enlightenment is not what you think it is, because enlightenment is beyond the power of your thoughts and ability to understand.

“Once you have become enlightened,” Master Fwap said dramatically, “you don’t have to live in a monastery, because the whole universe has become your monastery. You can lead a normal life doing whatever you choose.

Psychic Energy Absorption

…most individuals, without consciously realizing it, absorb a great deal of psychic energy from the people they casually associate with, and an even a greater amount of psychic energy from the people with whom they have strong emotional connections.

“The energies and mental states that we psychically pick up from the people we are emotionally close to or those with whom we physically interact build up on our subtle body, in much the same way that dirt builds up on our physical body during the course of a day.

“If these negative auric vibrations are not kept to a minimum by using psychic shielding techniques, and if they aren’t cleansed from our subtle body each day through the practice of meditation, they will accumulate and eventually become extremely toxic.

“The buildup of negative auric vibrations initially impairs our ability to perceive psychically,” he continued to elucidate. “If these energies build up over a long period of time, they can eventually cause us to become physically ill. Most serious illnesses, including many types of cancer, are the result of auric toxicity.”

“Well, let us suppose that you live next to an alcoholic. You might suddenly find yourself wanting to drink. If you follow that feeling, which was not yours to begin with, you might start to drink on a regular basis. Then, in an intoxicated haze, you might neglect your work, get mad at the people you care about, or even get into a car accident. In short, if you followed the feelings of the alcoholic next door, without realizing they weren’t your own feelings, you could ruin your entire life!

“Or let us say,” Master Fwap continued, “that you love someone who is very depressed. Even though that person may live in a different part of the country from you, you may find yourself thinking and feeling that person’s unhappy thoughts and depressed emotions, even though you might be a very happy person.

“Psychic impressions can also remain in a physical location for some time. If a newly married couple who were very happy with each other moved into a home just vacated by a couple whose marriage had ended in divorce, the newlyweds might find themselves fighting with each other all the time, even though they really loved one another.

“If you want to constantly experience the unalloyed ecstasy of life, you must first break contact with the things that cause you pain. You can accomplish this through the twin Buddhist practices of meditation and mindfulness.

“With the happiness, ecstasy and power you gain from meditation, you can then gradually remove your mind from the things it has become hooked to that cause it pain. Once you have accomplished this, regardless of what happens to you in your physical life, you will always be happy.

…“you are no longer a slave to fortune. When pleasant experiences come your way, you can enjoy them. But if pain and misfortune befall you, you can rise above them and remain unaffected.

“Above the clouds, the sun is always shining.

“In much the same way, if you derive your happiness from the events, sensations and other experiences that you have in this physical world, and from the emotions and feelings they generate within your mind and body, you are a slave to the ‘weather’ of events. When things are ‘sunny’ in your life you will be happy. But on ‘cloudy’ days, which we all have in life, you will be sad, depressed and in pain.

“As you know, we cannot control the weather. As a matter of fact, we can hardly predict it. It is the same with day-to-day life. It is very hard to control life even some of the time, let alone most or all of the time, and it is almost impossible to predict life.

… in deepest meditation, you will always be in an enlightened state of consciousness. Then let the clouds of life come. Let the rain of unhappy and tragic experiences fall, as sometimes it inevitably must, even in the lives of enlightened masters… through the practice of meditation and mindfulness, you will remain happy at all times.”

“Once you are enlightened, you can do whatever you want without fear or sorrow. You can choose to have a career or live in a monastery; you can go snowboarding, get married, stay single, be rich and famous, or live unknown in a high Himalayan cave. It is up to you.

Meditation

“Meditation is the ability to be in a state of perfect mind. At the same time, it is the ability to do physical things in a harmonious way; it is a way to remain centered in a physical world that is out of balance.

… we learn to meditate in two ways. First we learn how to sit and focus on our chakras and stop our thoughts. Then, when the mind is empty, we can travel into the astral dimensions, the causal dimensions…

“The second way we learn to meditate… is by practicing mindfulness,” he explained. “Mindfulness is the practice of doing physical things perfectly—in a state of emptiness— in which we become consciously ‘one’ with whatever physical or mental activity we are currently engaged in.

 Emptiness

… “we call the inherent knowledge that all animate and inanimate objects possess of themselves, their ‘emptiness.’ It is the Buddhist belief that all things, experiences and people are inherently empty. That is simply a way of saying that all physical and nonphysical things have another side, a side that is not visible to the senses or accessible to the reasoning mind, a side that can only be known and experienced intuitively by emptying one’s own mind of thoughts, judgments and predispositions about life and how it works.

“Try always to remember that when you think about something, you separate yourself from it. But when you are empty— when your mind is tranquil and at peace with the universe, when it has become void of all thought— you become meditation. Then you consciously join with and become part of the power that is in everything around you.

“If we think and try to direct our lives with only our limited, rationalistic thoughts and our sense perceptions, then our actions and our activities will not be perfect. From a Buddhist perspective, it is incorrect to always assume that we know what is best.

When we take the time to meditate and empty ourselves of thoughts, we immediately connect with the inherent emptiness of our actions and experiences. When we do this, our nonphysical side merges with the nonphysical side of that which we are experiencing.

“Once this has occurred, our actions and experiences will direct us. In other words, we will be guided by the inherent emptiness of the things we choose to interact with.

“Before beginning an activity,” Master Fwap instructed me, “always first empty yourself of thoughts regarding what you are about to do. Then allow the inherent emptiness within what you are about to do to direct you. Instead of your ego directing you and making countless mistakes, allow yourself to be guided by the invisible principles of the universe within your actions. At that time there will be a perfect flow of energy in whatever you choose to do, and there will be a grace and power present in all of your movements…this is perfect action.”

“One of the great secrets of life that Buddhist monks have learned from their study of meditation,” Master Fwap explained, “is how to eliminate anything extraneous from their minds. If something doesn’t contribute to their happiness and well-being, or to the happiness and well-being of others, they are able to remove it from their thoughts, and keep their minds focused on what does matter.

Surfing the Himalayas  

Frederick Lenz

Surfing the Himalayas