The Dalai Lama once admitted that, as a child, he thought Buddhism was better than all other religions. He now understands the dangers of such religious chauvinism and went on to write about how compassion is the basis of all religions. In this, he agrees with the Founders of the United States, who were well aware of the ugly history in Europe of Christians killing each other over what flavor of Christian to be and so decided, wisely, to prohibit the establishment of religion in their new republic. The Dalai Lama is also happy to incorporate quantum physics into his understanding of the world. To say that the Buddha was right is not at all the same as saying that Buddhism is better than other religions. Whether anyone thinks it matters how well their religion corresponds to reality is an open question. For the Buddha, awakening included an amazing flash of insight that allowed him to see the world in a way that corresponds very well with the discoveries of quantum physics. Living as he did roughly 400 years BCE, he lacked our modern vocabulary to describe what he saw, but he got the point across well enough. But until you awaken to the level the Buddha did, the ways in which the world operates according to the principles of quantum physics is an abstraction. What the Buddha got right that matters to us still stuck here in samsara is his method for how to awaken. He was very clear that starting with an ethical commitment to the five precepts is essential. Don’t harm anyone. Don’t steal anything. Don’t lie. Don’t engage in irresponsible sexual conduct. And don’t consume intoxicants. Pretty simple. From there, just keep meditating. A regular practice is important. Better short sessions daily than a long session one day followed by nothing the next day. It’s a gradual process, like walking into the ocean. The water will gradually get deeper — until you fall into the Marianas Trench, which you will be happy to do once it happens.

"Meditation is the art of focusing 100% of your attention in one area.” Meditation for Beginners: 20 Practical Tips for Quieting the Mind http://zenhabits.net/meditation-for-beginners-20-practical-tips-for-quieting-the-mind/ Meditation in Buddhism is where the rubber hits the road. Reading any book on Buddhism is helpful insofar as it gives you some idea of what Buddhists are up to and lets you think with better information about whether you want to follow the Buddhist path or not. But, as we suggested before, book learning is useful, perhaps necessary, but it is less than half of the whole deal. If you decide that you do want to follow the Buddhist path, and you keep hearing people like me and Buddhist teachers talking about “the path,” you may wonder, how do I travel this path? Is it a literal path somewhere that I have to travel to India or Nepal to find? It is not. You can travel the path in your own house. The way you travel the path, primarily, is to meditate. Meditation, like all of Buddhism, is really very simple. It might not seem that way to you now, mostly because it may be new and strange, but as you get to know it better, it should look ever more simple. This is an important point to keep in mind, especially if, like me, you have a tendency to make things too complicated. The good/bad part of meditation is that it allows you to start seeing your own mental habits, good and bad. When you first start meditating, you may think your situation is getting dramatically worse, and you may be horrified at some of the things you notice about yourself. You’re not getting worse, you’re just noticing for the first time things that have been going on in your head that you had never noticed before. The choices are not whether to have bad mental habits or not to have them, the choices are to notice them and let go of them, or ignore them and let them continue to run your life from your subconscious. Again, our most important and influential thoughts are subconscious, but you can bring them into conscious awareness by meditating, which is just choosing to pay attention to your own mind in a way you likely have never done before.

We're all responsible, but no one is to blame. The moral theory of Buddhism is importantly different from that of Christianity. "Sin" is not an operative concept in Buddhism because there is no omnipotent deity to offend. If you behave badly, as the old cliche goes, you are only hurting yourself. And likely other people near you, physically or otherwise, but immoral conduct is not immoral because some sky daddy forbade it. Buddhism abjures metaphysics, focusing intently on what is right in front of us, and verifiably so. Buddhism focuses on concrete, real world harms. The Buddhist path does begin with sila, or morality. The Buddha articulated five precepts that all humans should observe. 1. Do not harm other beings. 2. Do not steal. 3. Do not lie or utter false, divisive speech. 4. Refrain from irresponsible sexual activity. 5. Avoid intoxicants. We can call this the Hangover Rule. If you get drunk, you run the risk of harming other people, perhaps by driving under the influence, of stealing out of need or just hijinx, of lying or gossiping, and of having sex you shouldn't be having. Regardless, you will have a hangover the next day, harming yourself. You will also accumulate bad karma, which a lot of people think they understand but don't. More on karma in another post. In Buddhism, this is all temporary. According to Christianity, if you "sin," the omnipotent deity who loves you will condemn you to eternal punishment. The Buddha talked about very long periods of time that are functionally infinite from the perspective of a human lifetime, but he also stated that we have multiple lifetimes, with the only thread of continuity among them being our karma. Current you will not be aware of future you, but eventually you will awaken fully and exhaust the karma that keeps you coming back for more lifetimes. That was the key realization of the Buddha. When the Buddha died, he died and will remain forever dead. But Ajahn Sumedho describes awakening as "the deathless." The body is the least interesting, important part of any human life. After the Buddha's body died, his subjectivity, his remaining karma, disappeared, to where we don't know.

Most people associate something called "enlightenment" with Buddhism. This is a bit of problem because most people also have some idea of what "enlightenment" means, even though one cannot understand it until one has experienced it. No verbal description can adequately capture. Also, western culture has a distinct historical tradition, or period, we also call "the enlightenment" that has little if anything to do with the Buddhist idea. It is better, then, and more accurate, to use "awakening." Soon after his awakening, the Buddha began walking to find his former ascetic companions to explain to them what he had realized. Another person saw the Buddha on the road and asked him who or what he was. He replied, "I am awake," which, in Pali, the language the Buddha's teaching originally got written down in, is "I am Buddha." So, the Buddha described himself as being "awake," which makes "awakening" a better term for what comes from a sufficiently consistent meditation practice over a sufficient period of time.

This may seem unduly ephemeral, or take a while to manifest, but as you meditate, you will become increasingly aware of what Ajahn Sumedho calls "pure consciousness." Any term will be inadequate because human language cannot capture the experience. Just keep meditating. Some teachers use "awareness" and "consciousness" interchangeably, and they are pretty much the same, but for present purposes, we will say that you become increasingly aware of your pure consciousness. Awareness is more specific and directed. Both are available to everyone. Pure consciousness is like an infinite void inside your head. As Sumedho explains it, consciousness is the necessary precondition for all else. Without consciousness, we would have no knowledge or thought. We would be rocks. He asks if we are concious, and we have to say yes. Were we not conscious, we would not know he had asked a question. Again, it manifests gradually as the result of your consistent meditation practice. The tricky part is identifying with it. The Buddha pointed out that all human creations are impermanent, unreliable. All we create will cease to exist eventually, including our individual identities. Only consciousness is permanent and unchanging. It is the actual basis for our identities and our ability to think and perceive. The point of Buddhist meditation is to abandon the ordinary, mistaken identities we bring to meditation in favor of identifying with pure consciousness. Pure consciousness emerges as you meditate. But here is where awareness is distinct from consciousness. You become aware of pure consciousness. Then you almost have to trick yourself into shifting from your ordinary, pre meditation awareness to grounding your awareness in pure consciousness. This shift can be very subtle, but is profound, a major change in your perception and thought. Instead of directing your awareness outward, you turn it inward to perceive and appreciate pure consciousness.