Is Violence Part of my True Self?
response by Shoryu Bradley, Soto Zen Teacher
Dear Shoryu Bradley,
I have been reading your essays, and I like so much of what you say. Thank you especially for the one about squirrel and tractors being part of our true self. Recently in my home town there was a terrible shooting in which a young woman was killed by her boyfriend. I’d like to ask you about another matter. From your Zen perspective, is violence part of our true self, too. Thanks so much for any words you can offer?
Denise
*
I have been reading your essays, and I like so much of what you say. Thank you especially for the one about squirrel and tractors being part of our true self. Recently in my home town there was a terrible shooting in which a young woman was killed by her boyfriend. I’d like to ask you about another matter. From your Zen perspective, is violence part of our true self, too. Thanks so much for any words you can offer?
Denise
*
Dear Denise,
Thank you very much for your important question. I hope I can offer some helpful words to address it.
In the article, I spoke of taking refuge in “the true self”. This “self beyond self and no-self” has also been referred to in Buddhism as “thus-ness”, “Buddha nature”, or “the true reality of all beings”. So I think we could also phrase your question as, “Does the true reality in which I take refuge include violent impulses and even violent acts?”
To help answer this, I would like to quote a writing that appears in the early record of the Buddha's teaching. It is from the Kaccayanagotta Sutta, where Kaccayana has asked the Buddha “What is right view?”. This is another way of asking, “What is the true nature of the world and my experience of it?”
..."The world in general, Kaccaayana, inclines to two views, to existence or to non-existence. But for him who, with the highest wisdom, sees the uprising of the world as it really is, non-existence of the world' does not apply, and for him who, with highest wisdom, sees the passing away of the world as it really is, 'existence of the world' does not apply.
"The world in general, Kaccaayana, grasps after systems and is imprisoned by dogmas. But he does not go along with that system-grasping, that mental obstinacy and dogmatic bias, does not grasp at it, does not affirm: 'This is my self.' He knows without doubt or hesitation that whatever arises is merely dukkha (suffering) that what passes away is merely dukkha and such knowledge is his own, not depending on anyone else. This, Kaccaayana, is what constitutes right view.
"'Everything exists,' this is one extreme [view]; 'nothing exists,' this is the other extreme. Avoiding both extremes the Tathaagata (the one “thus come”) teaches a doctrine of the middle...[1]
This is one of my favorite writings because it shows us a way to uncover profound insight through connecting deeply with our everyday experience. First It says when we view the arising of our world with “the highest wisdom”, we don't attach to the notion that the world and the self are non-existent and meaningless; we don't fall into nihilism.
For example when we see a baby being born, growing and developing, we see human life continuing and we can have hope for the future. We don't fall into the nihilism that says nothing matters because everything dies and the self is a complete illusion. Life continues and our behavior shapes the future for ourselves and future generations. Hope gives us the motivation to address the suffering of the self and others in the here and now.
Yet we can see the danger in dwelling in a view of “yes, my experience of the world is ultimately real.” For example, if with this attitude we learn that a baby has grown up to be a man that kills his girlfriend, we could attach to experiences such as anger, judgement, or depression. If we believe the evil or suffering that motivated his action is a fixed reality or expression of his essential being, we might lose faith in human nature or fall into cynicism. Some could even conclude that attempting to rehabilitate “criminals” is useless and the only remedy for evil is exterminating those at its source.
On the other hand, when we see the passing away of things, we find a remedy to such dogmatic thinking. We see change is a necessary part of all things. For example, it is the impermanence of the baby that allows it to grow and become a toddler, young child, teenager, etc. The passing away of the baby is the birth of the toddler and the realization of potential. Likewise, impermanence allows us to grow, learn and develop. We can observe, reflect, address our mistakes, and improve ourselves because of this reality of impermanence.
We also can observe that violent people are not always violent. Violent states pass and they do not ultimately define a person. Each one of us, in fact, virtually manifests a “different person” from one day to the next, one moment to the next. Sometimes we are a joyful person, sometimes an angry, bored, or depressed one. No state of mind lasts forever and none can ultimately define us. None of them is our “true self”.
And yet, if we attach to the extreme view of impermanence, that nothing really exists because everything is always changing, we have no way to hold anyone responsible for their behaviors. One could even argue, “everyone is going to die sooner or later anyway, so why does it matter if I end a life?” So in attaching to this extreme view lies a danger of falling into cynicism and/or despair, because here it appears there is no continuity or lasting effects of our actions and therefore no genuine meaning and value to our lives.
So the medicine for attaching to dogmatic belief in our experience is seeing impermanence, and the medicine for attaching to irresponsibility or nihilism is seeing life's continuity.The reality of our lives as it is unfolding in the here and now is beyond extreme views. In fact, it is beyond any view, opinion or dogma. In the sutta the Buddha called this reality the “teaching (above translated as “doctrine”) via the middle” and says a person who sees the world with the highest wisdom is freed from the prison of their own fixed and biased views. It is within the practice of this highest wisdom, within this teaching via the middle, that the true self is manifested.
We cannot say that violence is part of this true self, because all behavior and experience are unfixed, changing, and conditioned by other things. In Buddhism, “evil” means “something that causes suffering.” But we can find no essential, ultimate evil or source of suffering because we see that all things and events are impermanent and conditioned by other things and events. So we cannot ultimately judge the essential moral nature of people or things.
And yet we cannot say violence is not a part of reality, because we can see and experience its effects in the here and now. We also can't remedy the suffering it creates unless we face the reality of violent activity and hold accountable those who manifest it. Yet in discerning how this can best be done, we must simultaneously avoid judging the essential nature of those who behave violently as either ultimately good or ultimately evil.
In Buddhism, then, we are less concerned with the philosophical definition of reality or self than with the actual “living out” of true reality. “Living out” means manifesting it fully with our entire heart, body, and mind in the here and now. We call this living out “practice”.
In Soto Zen Buddhism, practice is rooted in zazen (Japanese: sitting meditation), also known as shikantazaza (just sitting). We don't do zazen to augment our lives, rather, we aspire to live our lives as a manifestation of zazen. Why? Because in zazen we let go of the biases and preferences inherent in our individual, limited experience, our limited “worlds”. Sitting quietly in the zazen posture, we receive all thoughts, emotions and sensations freely, without discrimination, and we let them all go without discrimination as well. And beyond the meditation cushion in our daily activities, then, we aspire to discern how best to act with wisdom and compassion, without judgement or personal bias. We do this by allowing zazen to guide us in all we do.
This practice is itself the “true self” I spoke of in the article. So that it can take action, it acknowledges violence and suffering and address them compassionately. But it does not judge people as “other” or “essentially” evil. It provisionally labels them only as a means to respond wisely and compassionately.
With bows and best wishes,
Shoryu.
Shoryu Bradley
Gyobutsu Zen Monastery
[1]Kaccayanagotta Sutta: To Kaccayana Gotta (on Right View)" (SN 12.15), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.015.than.html. I have added the words in parentheses.
Thank you very much for your important question. I hope I can offer some helpful words to address it.
In the article, I spoke of taking refuge in “the true self”. This “self beyond self and no-self” has also been referred to in Buddhism as “thus-ness”, “Buddha nature”, or “the true reality of all beings”. So I think we could also phrase your question as, “Does the true reality in which I take refuge include violent impulses and even violent acts?”
To help answer this, I would like to quote a writing that appears in the early record of the Buddha's teaching. It is from the Kaccayanagotta Sutta, where Kaccayana has asked the Buddha “What is right view?”. This is another way of asking, “What is the true nature of the world and my experience of it?”
..."The world in general, Kaccaayana, inclines to two views, to existence or to non-existence. But for him who, with the highest wisdom, sees the uprising of the world as it really is, non-existence of the world' does not apply, and for him who, with highest wisdom, sees the passing away of the world as it really is, 'existence of the world' does not apply.
"The world in general, Kaccaayana, grasps after systems and is imprisoned by dogmas. But he does not go along with that system-grasping, that mental obstinacy and dogmatic bias, does not grasp at it, does not affirm: 'This is my self.' He knows without doubt or hesitation that whatever arises is merely dukkha (suffering) that what passes away is merely dukkha and such knowledge is his own, not depending on anyone else. This, Kaccaayana, is what constitutes right view.
"'Everything exists,' this is one extreme [view]; 'nothing exists,' this is the other extreme. Avoiding both extremes the Tathaagata (the one “thus come”) teaches a doctrine of the middle...[1]
This is one of my favorite writings because it shows us a way to uncover profound insight through connecting deeply with our everyday experience. First It says when we view the arising of our world with “the highest wisdom”, we don't attach to the notion that the world and the self are non-existent and meaningless; we don't fall into nihilism.
For example when we see a baby being born, growing and developing, we see human life continuing and we can have hope for the future. We don't fall into the nihilism that says nothing matters because everything dies and the self is a complete illusion. Life continues and our behavior shapes the future for ourselves and future generations. Hope gives us the motivation to address the suffering of the self and others in the here and now.
Yet we can see the danger in dwelling in a view of “yes, my experience of the world is ultimately real.” For example, if with this attitude we learn that a baby has grown up to be a man that kills his girlfriend, we could attach to experiences such as anger, judgement, or depression. If we believe the evil or suffering that motivated his action is a fixed reality or expression of his essential being, we might lose faith in human nature or fall into cynicism. Some could even conclude that attempting to rehabilitate “criminals” is useless and the only remedy for evil is exterminating those at its source.
On the other hand, when we see the passing away of things, we find a remedy to such dogmatic thinking. We see change is a necessary part of all things. For example, it is the impermanence of the baby that allows it to grow and become a toddler, young child, teenager, etc. The passing away of the baby is the birth of the toddler and the realization of potential. Likewise, impermanence allows us to grow, learn and develop. We can observe, reflect, address our mistakes, and improve ourselves because of this reality of impermanence.
We also can observe that violent people are not always violent. Violent states pass and they do not ultimately define a person. Each one of us, in fact, virtually manifests a “different person” from one day to the next, one moment to the next. Sometimes we are a joyful person, sometimes an angry, bored, or depressed one. No state of mind lasts forever and none can ultimately define us. None of them is our “true self”.
And yet, if we attach to the extreme view of impermanence, that nothing really exists because everything is always changing, we have no way to hold anyone responsible for their behaviors. One could even argue, “everyone is going to die sooner or later anyway, so why does it matter if I end a life?” So in attaching to this extreme view lies a danger of falling into cynicism and/or despair, because here it appears there is no continuity or lasting effects of our actions and therefore no genuine meaning and value to our lives.
So the medicine for attaching to dogmatic belief in our experience is seeing impermanence, and the medicine for attaching to irresponsibility or nihilism is seeing life's continuity.The reality of our lives as it is unfolding in the here and now is beyond extreme views. In fact, it is beyond any view, opinion or dogma. In the sutta the Buddha called this reality the “teaching (above translated as “doctrine”) via the middle” and says a person who sees the world with the highest wisdom is freed from the prison of their own fixed and biased views. It is within the practice of this highest wisdom, within this teaching via the middle, that the true self is manifested.
We cannot say that violence is part of this true self, because all behavior and experience are unfixed, changing, and conditioned by other things. In Buddhism, “evil” means “something that causes suffering.” But we can find no essential, ultimate evil or source of suffering because we see that all things and events are impermanent and conditioned by other things and events. So we cannot ultimately judge the essential moral nature of people or things.
And yet we cannot say violence is not a part of reality, because we can see and experience its effects in the here and now. We also can't remedy the suffering it creates unless we face the reality of violent activity and hold accountable those who manifest it. Yet in discerning how this can best be done, we must simultaneously avoid judging the essential nature of those who behave violently as either ultimately good or ultimately evil.
In Buddhism, then, we are less concerned with the philosophical definition of reality or self than with the actual “living out” of true reality. “Living out” means manifesting it fully with our entire heart, body, and mind in the here and now. We call this living out “practice”.
In Soto Zen Buddhism, practice is rooted in zazen (Japanese: sitting meditation), also known as shikantazaza (just sitting). We don't do zazen to augment our lives, rather, we aspire to live our lives as a manifestation of zazen. Why? Because in zazen we let go of the biases and preferences inherent in our individual, limited experience, our limited “worlds”. Sitting quietly in the zazen posture, we receive all thoughts, emotions and sensations freely, without discrimination, and we let them all go without discrimination as well. And beyond the meditation cushion in our daily activities, then, we aspire to discern how best to act with wisdom and compassion, without judgement or personal bias. We do this by allowing zazen to guide us in all we do.
This practice is itself the “true self” I spoke of in the article. So that it can take action, it acknowledges violence and suffering and address them compassionately. But it does not judge people as “other” or “essentially” evil. It provisionally labels them only as a means to respond wisely and compassionately.
With bows and best wishes,
Shoryu.
Shoryu Bradley
Gyobutsu Zen Monastery
[1]Kaccayanagotta Sutta: To Kaccayana Gotta (on Right View)" (SN 12.15), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.015.than.html. I have added the words in parentheses.
