- The Prison of Body Resistance — Set Yourself Free Series
- Prisons of the Spirit — Set Yourself Free Series
- The Prison of Imagination — Set Yourself Free Series
- Breaking Through Beliefs — Set Yourself Free Series
- True Intimacy — Set Yourself Free Series
- True Liberation — Set Yourself Free Series
- Learning by Letting Go — Set Yourself Free Series
- Unbinding — Set Yourself Free Series
- Dropping Manipulative Games — Set Yourself Free Series
- Passionate Engaging — Set Yourself Free Series
Unbinding — One can see the results of how one lives by looking directly toward the body. In other words, the body tells us what we need to know.
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Half Asleep in the Buddha Hall.
Wayne’s “Eastern” book takes you by the hand and helps you to find peace of mind. Half Asleep in the Buddha Hall is a Zen-based guide to living life fully and deeply.
I just re-found an article I’d saved — it was in the Winter 2009 Buddhadharma magazine. The article is “Gautama vs the Buddha,” by Glenn Wallis.
If you’d like a one word description, here it is:
Unbinding.
Here’s the article summary:
If you’re looking for relief from suffering, argues Buddhist scholar and author Glenn Wallis, you won’t find it in some mythical figure named the Buddha but in the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama–an ordinary person like us, who became one of the world’s most gifted spiritual teachers.
He then talks about the core of it all, and uses a sutta (in Pali, sutra in Sanskrit) to describe the process.
Destination — from the Parayana Sutta —
I will teach the destination and the path leading to the destination. Listen to what I say.
What is the destination? The eradication of infatuation, the eradication of hostility, and the eradication of delusion is what is called the destination.
And what is the path leading to the destination? Present-moment awareness directed toward the body. This awareness is what is called the path leading to the destination.
In this way, I have taught to you the destination and the path leading to the destination. That which should be done out of compassion by a caring teacher who desires the welfare of his students, I have done for you.
There are secluded places. Meditate, do not be negligent! Don’t have regrets later! This is my instruction to you.
Key concepts
- All of that eradication, which is described as the destination, is also known as Nirvana.
- One can see the results of how one lives by looking directly toward the body.
- The body tells us what we need to know. If we are angry, sad, depressed, bored, confused, infatuated — then we are bound up in these things — in infatuation, delusion, or hostility.
- If we are present — at peace, aware, open, honest, vulnerable, true to ourselves — we are unbound, and in that moment (what else is there?) we touch “all that there is.”
This ongoing process of seeing into and being with is what meditation is all about.
As we learn to see when seeing, hear when hearing, we begin to let go of our attachment — our “bound-ness” — to the causes of suffering — namely, infatuation, delusion, and hostility.
Infatuation is the same as attraction.
If I am drawn to something, if I must have something — or someone — then I have surrendered myself to (I am bound to) the thing I am attracted to.
I’m lucky, in that I’ve never been attracted to teachers or gurus. By this I mean that while I have known quite a few, I am not infatuated by them.
On the other hand, I sometimes infatuate myself with people whom I think are “getting it.” I tend to want to have them get what I get, and quite annoy myself when they persist in doing it their way.
For me, then, unbinding is endlessly letting go of my desire to make things happen.
My personal path is learning (endlessly) to let people go —away, astray, wherever they choose. If I romanticize them or their path, I pay the price of infatuating myself.
Hostility is the same as repulsion.
I do not suffer fools gladly. I still have a highly judgemental streak. And I still set myself off over what I judge to be “dumb choices made by idiots.”
Guess which former president I’m thinking of right now…
Fortunately, I have somewhat learned to contain this tendency, and I “go off” less often. Although, I must admit, 2024 has been the focus of some dynamite rants.
Usually, I bend Darbella’s ear, while she laughs and shakes her head. Dar seldom gets her shorts in a bunch, and has difficulty (she tells me) understanding my obvious delight in winding myself up.
Rather than prolong this example, let me just present a photo of Dar, looking at me, mid-wind-up.
If I go to hostility, I again am putting myself out there, as opposed to in here. I am causing myself trauma, and blaming it on the behaviour of others—despite their behaviour being none of my business and out of my control.
Unbinding would be seeing the situation clearly, and choosing what I can do to bring myself back to peace.
Delusion is the same as being tuned out, unaware.
Delusion is thinking that the world owes me something.
Or that, because I’m a nice person, I deserve special treatment.
Or that it’s scary out there and I have to be cautious.
Or that my job is to fix everyone else, and then it will be my turn.
Or that how I feel and what is going on for me is up for either debate or approval from others.
And on and on.
Unbinding, paradoxically, has to do with “don’t know,” with seeing simply, without a lot of drama or explanation.
I mostly don’t delude myself, although I could be deluded about that…
Present minded awareness directed toward the body is all about paying attention to the very real signs our bodies give us, signs that point to either distress or freedom.
I know how I am by being aware of what I am feeling, and observing what I am thinking.
Once I get this, I can unbind myself from the games I am playing, the lies I am telling myself, and the dramas I am creating, and I can be in my body, where I am, moment by moment.
Unbinding is a way to remember.
Much like untangling wool so that it is useful, unbinding ourselves from our confusions and distractions gives us the space and utility to be who we are.
Unbound. Real. Whole. Complete.