Water and Waves

During the meditation tonight, I tried a different approach to relating to pain. But I don’t think that this has anything to do with meditation itself. It has more to do with how I see things, my attitude in general, and how I adjust. The closest analogy I can think of is the ‘water’ and ‘waves’ analogy. This analogy was used by the Venerable to describe how one relates to phenomena in the world. Though I don’t have too much spiritual attainment, I will relate what I find useful about this analogy in my daily practice.

It seems to me that the view of ‘seeing things equally’ is not enough. It is not enough to see waves as having an equal value or intensity. I think that the deeper meaning is to understand what is the substance and core of the waves themselves. To appreciate this core principle (the mind principle) is to value things in ways different from those traditionally known. I remember years ago, when I was facilitating a Meetup Group for a Huayen Buddhist class, there was a person who briefly joined online. He later felt put off by the group, because there was a line in Francis Cook’s Jewel Net of Indra where it talks about a grain of sand being equal to a tiger. He simply couldn’t believe this, and ended up leaving the group, almost in disgust. How could a grain of sand be like a tiger? I couldn’t explain to him what the expression meant, though it seems to defy human reasoning.  I might take a different crack at it here.

On a relative level, waves do vary in intensity and duration. In the same way, I encounter different sizes, shapes and characteristics of forms. To try to ‘equalize’ forms in terms of their appearances would seem counter-intuitive, and most people would understandably reject that. But Huayen and other schools of Buddhism seem to be taking it a step deeper, in saying all being is equally the same material as the ocean itself. The investigation is to understand precisely why these things are equal, rather than to use reasoning to simply declare ‘all phenomena are equal’. From what angle am I able to see that waves are ‘equal’?

To go back to meditation practice, I can easily try to use relative arguments to say that my pain is equal to any other sensation. But if I don’t understand the principle of why it is equal to other sensations, then it just becomes a way of trying to convince myself that one thing is somehow the same as another. This might sometimes be like trying to convince a child that mashed potatoes are another form of vanilla ice cream. I think that where the practice goes deeper is to inquire into the nature of the ocean itself, to understand what is substantially ‘equal’ about all phenomena, to the point where mind does not move between them. I think the answer to this question is that when I am really looking into the nature of the ‘unmoved’ mind, phenomena naturally lose their ability to hook themselves into me or make a deep impression on me.  This happened to me a little bit today, for example. During the process of experiencing body pain, I had begun an inquiry into what the pain is. But rather than trying to use logic to convince myself that the pain if bearable or even enjoyable, I took a different approach. I started to ask, what part of all this sensation does not move and is not affected by the pain itself? Can the mind be said to be ‘hurt’ by anything? I say, I hurt my hand, or I have a hurt feeling, but is mind ever ‘hurt’? Maybe it is analogous to a tv screen being hurt by an actor punching another actor in a movie. The mind doesn’t feel ‘hurt’ because mind is only reflecting experience. It is like the nature of water in the ocean is not ‘moved’ by the waves, because it is in fact the waves themselves. So, when I say “I am hurt”, I am confusing my reality as a being with the forms I witness, including the image of ‘me’ or ‘something else hurting me’.

I think that when I keep my mind on this unmoving aspect of mind, I am moreflexible to feel grateful for whatever comes up, because I am not just seeing the appearance anymore. I am seeing that it is all coming from this deeper wellspring that is infinite and can be replenished at any time. Reflecting this way allows me to better handle painful sensations.