Capping Verse 178

When the light has not penetrated fully,
distant objects may appear close
close objects may appear distant.
Yet how many are there
who are able to regain their way?

Loori, The True Dharma Eye

Die spieël in die ouetehuis

Ou oom Fanie vra eendag vir stok ou oom Kassie: “Soos wat lyk die ou spieël voordat jy hom mooi gepoets het?”
Die ou oom loer terug oor sy vaal bril.
“Soos ‘n ou spieël,” kom die grys woorde.
Oom Fanie was nie tevrede nie.
“En hoe lyk die ou spieël nadat jy hom mooi blink gevryf het?”
“Soos ‘n ou spieël,” antwoord hy hom terug met ‘n laggie.
Stilte in die ouetehuis met die reuk van gepolleerde meubels.

Zen Koans

For Christmas my wife gave me The True Dharma Eye, an excellent book translated by John Daido Loori. Few things can be as frustrating, dumbfounding and annoying as Zen koans. The moment you read a good koan, you feel like an complete idiot. That’s why I Iove them. The part of us that needs it, gets a good lesson in humility.

Think of it this way. As my teacher Mr Anthony Osler explained once, our minds are experts at creating stories. The human mind is capable of surviving this chaotic world, and in large part we have our story telling mind, or monkey mind to thank. Problem is, it never knows where to stop. It continues on, not even stopping when its is creating suffering out of nothing. And that is the problem that Buddhism has chosen to solve.

Suffering.

Enter the zen koan.

“But they are so nonsensical!”, I hear you respond. Well the thing is, a koan attempts to distract your monkey mind. What happens when monkey minds stops? The problem is as soon as I explain this to you, it will start again. So how do we stop monkey mind? By means of example and demonstration: the key function, of a zen koan. Surely if something is understood by a student through demonstration, it does not need any more explanation, which could only serve to confuse him!

No games.

Serious stuff.

Furthermore, a koan is only solved when the student figures it out for himself. A koan has many answers, but only one meaning. Example:

Master Osler is sitting on his stoep, when a wandering layman asks him: “Master, can you explain the way for me clearly?” Master Osler stretched out his hand and said, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

How can that explain anything? It doesn’t. Listen! Stretch out your own hand! Listen! Silence your monkey mind that is howling “This is stupid!”

What do you hear?

I hear the sounds of the African Spa soundtrack, the howl of the wind past my apartment, the door creaking in the bedroom… That is my sound. What is yours? How does this answer the question about the Way? Once you are “here”, tuned in to this station, you are free of distraction, free of opinions, you are hearing the sound first hand. Now your monkey mind can act. The horse, or monkey, is in front of the cart. Mush! This is the mind of the buddha. Master Osler has shown you his Mind. Our Mind. One free of previously held opinions, stresses about tomorrow, one that sees the “now”, the great imperative which must be done above all costs. I can talk about it for hours, but it is easier if you do it for yourself! My hands are getting tired. The wind is still howling. I want some tea. I wonder if my wife wants some? I will leave you with another koan. If you don’t get it, find a real teacher!

Master Osler was once asked by a student, “Mr Osler, I don’t understand your funny gods. If your great goddess of compassion has a million arms and hands, how does she ever manage to control them all?”. Master Osler responded, “I have no idea. Do you want a beer?” He hands him a cold beer.
“Thank you!” the student answers without thinking.

The Skinner box in the Parking Lot

There is a machine standing in our parking lots, that made me worry about man’s ability to truely understand cause and effect. I am off-course talking of the humble ticket dispenser. It usually dispenses tickets when we give it coins, but sometimes they just pass through. At times it does not accept oddly shaped ones, and only randomly accepts these coins, depending if it gets stuck in it’s mechanism or not. But some people think that if they scratch the coin, they will “magnetize” it and it will get accepted. Soon the manufacturers, since people were damaging their machines, instead of educating people with a simple sign, provided a scratch patch, enforcing the deluded behaviour!

Big brains don’t always mean big intelligence… But why do I say that this proves to be a window into our ability to understand cause and effect? Well, this machine turns out to be a kind of Skinner box. I have always felt absolute horror when reminded of it. (I can hear Skinner’s evil behaviourist laughter every time I might add!)

Richard Dawkins describes it well in his book,“Unweaving the Rainbow “(p162 to 165). The idea is very simple: you put a pigeon in a box. First you give it a button and a light. When it presses the button the light goes on and out comes food. Simple. How does it learn to push the button? Sheer accident at first, but it soon learns to use it.

Now, what if you dissociate the button from the food? What if the food comes out randomly irrespective of button presses? Yes! Pigeon still presses the button and expects food. It does not know that the button and the food aren’t connected. The food just gets stuck sometimes!

Now take the button away and only despense food when it say, twirls to the right. Soon you will have pigeons twirling to the right. Now, randomly despense food. Low and behold the pigeon soon starts to perform strange rituals – sometimes pecking at the sides, doing strange dances etc., undoubtably thinking they are influencing the box to feed it!

Sure pigeons are dim. But consider this: In front of the Ticket Machine, the Ticket is our Reward, the Coins are OUR Button Press and scratching on the machine’s surface to “magnetize” it, is our own inane ritual.

More examples anyone?(Do you hear that laughter? Shudder)

Man/Machine symbiosis

We are already more intemately hooked into our machines than we know! Think about it.

At the gym you touch two panels on the latest machine and it tells you your heart rate. Forming an intimate feedback loop of higher rate lower pedal speed or slow heart rate higher pedal speed, it already resembles the hypothalamic pituitary axis’ many feeback loops.

Consider that your alarm clock already aids your brain in keeping correct time. In return you give it energy, you repair it, clean it etc. The basis of a symbiotic relationship.

I could go on and on! Simple examples first: your pocket calculator. It largely replaces your brain’s calculation centres. Just because it is an external object, doesn’t mean that it is not part of you!

I am not even going to mention larger machines! The latest in medical research already suggests that our brain regards objects we use as part of us on a neuronal level. Remember how you flinch when an oncoming car approaches you too fast. It nearly hit your car, not you! What about a scratch on you cars deuco? I think that it’s far more than just the cost that is bugging you. Your mind considers it to be a part of you.

We are more intimately connected with our environent and our machines than we think!