When Conflict Arises, Return to Your Natural State

First let us look at just what is meant by the term “your natural state”. Our natural state happens to be very subtle and fairly difficult to find because it lies beyond all the opinions, distinctions, and mental formations that for the most part clouds our minds. This “natural state” is the abode in which our true nature dwells – our Buddha-nature. It is a beautiful home without walls, yet filled with deep joy, exceedingly peaceful, and is the epitome of liberation or freedom. The house is so vast and so incredibly open, the entire cosmos gathers together in complete harmony and becomes one without exception, discrimination, judgement, or faction. Indeed this abode may be called the Pure Land or the Buddha-realm. But whatever label one puts on it, it is in fact our “natural state”. Residing in this state does not mean that one becomes “blissed out” or no longer functional in the mundane world. Rather it means that the one that abides there is not pushed and pulled by the leanings of the mind. All the activities of the mundane mind act much like a raging sea in the midst of a storm. So for the one who is not dwelling in their natural state, they become like the ship that is caught up in the hurricane. They are tossed here and there, battered and beaten by the waves of emotions, physically whipped by the constant changing of the winds – meaning the physical changes of the body as it reacts to the emotions, the release of adrenaline and so on that tires the body. Moments of calm are found here and there but only to be shattered by more troubles. These “troubles” are just more thoughts and emotions that arise. They become “troubles” when we get caught back up in them without recognizing the true nature of those thoughts and feelings. Thus to abide in our “natural state” is like being in a safe harbour. Even though there is a storm and the sea is in chaos, those in the safe harbour are securely moored and have no fear of what rages around them. They are able to sip a hot cup of tea and warm themselves by the cosy fire and watch with wonder the beauty of nature. What I am alluding to here, is that the thoughts and feelings never disappear – that would leave us like the dead and not very human at all – but what happens is that those thoughts and feelings lose their control over us. Without control over us, they become free to arise and fall away like dreams, and we are free to just watch, just feel, just be.

So then what is the meaning of the term “conflict” then? Conflict as it is being used here does not mean a struggle or a fight; instead it means anything that occurs within ourselves that cause us to be cast into the storm – in other words when we begin to get caught up in the opinions, in the judging, and leanings of the mind. It also points to that moment when we begin to give our authority over to any emotions that are arising at that moment. By giving authority, I mean empowering the emotions to rule over us. Power is given to thoughts and feelings when we ignore the true nature of those arisings. If we do not see the true nature of these projections, then they take on a look of being ‘real’ – real in the sense that they look permanent, immense and powerful. And this causes us to become their slave again. Therefore, to see the true nature of thoughts and feelings allows us to still experience them, but we are not subject to them. They do not enslave us, and we are not addicted to them. Without being a slave to them or addicted to them, we are free to just watch them come and go just as they are and according to their true nature, and we do not react to them. Thus we do not generate any karma. This is what the term “liberation” essentially means. Liberation points to this very freedom. Thus “conflict” in this sense means the moment we see that we are being pulled away from our Natural State and are about to be cast into the turbulent sea. Conflict is just like anything else. It arises. So how do we return to our “natural state”, our “true abode” when we see conflict arising? By just taking note of our mental activities and just letting them be without reacting to them. In this way we refrain from just reacting out of reflex and this allows us to look into the nature of what is happening. Seeing the true nature of these things actually returns us to that grand house. This does not mean that we will not get wet from the rain while walking back to the house, but it does mean that we will not be swept out to sea. Perhaps it may indeed act as an umbrella and spare us from having wet clothes…but that is for each of us to experience for ourselves.

Objects of Experience

In traditional Buddhist studies, there is a concept called the Four Laws of the Dharma[1] which systematically identify four truths concerning objects of experience. These “objects of experience” are the very things that we experience or even better, they are anything that we experience physically, mentally, emotionally and so on. The Prajñaparamita Hridaya sutra[2] breaks down every possible experience into five categories which are; form, feeling, perception, mental impulses and consciousness. Therefore, every thing that we come into contact with or experience falls into one of these five categories.[3] A deeper understanding of these five categories reveals that all objects within them innately posses the characteristics of the Four Laws of the Dharma. According to these Four Laws, all of these “objects of investigation” are conditioned, they appear to us in such a way due to the spin, judging, opinions and emotions we project onto the objects. So it is said that they are conditioned by our perception – our thoughts. The Four Laws go on to say that these conditioned objects are also impermanent, never remaining constant; related to suffering; and the conditioned objects are wholly without a “self” – empty of an innate identity (shunyata in Skrt). It is these Four Laws of the Dharma that we are not just trying to understand in an academic sense, but they are the truths that we ought to be testing in our meditation.

Let us take a closer look at how the objects of experience are related to suffering. First of all we should clarify that “suffering” does not necessarily denote a terrible pain, like the loss of a loved one though it certainly means that as well, but it also implies a sense of dissatisfaction which is more often than not a very subtle form of suffering. The objects of experience are said to be associated with our emotions and it is because of this association that every object is subject to cause us suffering. This underlying element of suffering or dissatisfaction that comes with these objects is a natural occurring association just like the scent of an orange is attached to the fruit itself. Any object of form, such as a nice car we may want or already own or any mental formation like the thought ‘if I could only achieve this one thing all would be well,’ are usually connected to an emotion and more often than not, they are connected to many, many emotions. Our attachments to these objects because of the emotional relationship cause us a tremendous amount of grief. We are worried about achieving our goals or we are worried about how to keep what we have achieved and in both cases, we tend to be dissatisfied with what we have or what we get. If the object brings us pleasure, then we desire more of it and if it causes us pain, we do all we can to get rid of it and keep it away from us…sometimes at all costs. It is due to these feelings of dissatisfaction that the Buddha said that even pleasure is a form of suffering. All emotional states that are related to some object whether internal or external have the potential to cause suffering. We should also take note that even within this study we find the impermanence of an object to be connected to our emotions.

The impermanent characteristics of these objects of experience may not always be at the forefront of our minds and yet there may still be an underlying suffering that is generated with the deep innate knowledge we have that the objects we are attached to will not last forever. This understanding of impermanence can be a useful tool in achieving equanimity if we contemplate every experience we have with this knowledge, although it must be equally applied to both the experiences we enjoy and dislike. Of the Four Laws of the Dharma, the law of impermanence has been taught all through history and in nearly every religious traditional so much so that there are a number of well known slogans or proverbs that contain the essence of it. Slogans like “This too shall pass” and so on. Where we fail with this knowledge is that we tend to only pull it out when everything is going wrong. You rarely hear a person say during a moment of extreme happiness “This will fade away in due time” but the minute everything goes wrong, we run to these slogans hoping they will dull out the misery. Unfortunately this kind of practice never works because we have not consistently trained ourselves to see the law of impermanence in its true light. It’s like saying to ourselves when ever we feel good, we need to ignore the law of impermanence and when we feel bad, we must try and cling to a perverted view that only the bad stuff is “impermanent.” This skewed view of impermanence is reinforced when we do all we can to hold on to the good feelings the moment they begin to fade. This of course is the root of addiction – addiction to feelings. Therefore if the knowledge of impermanence is equally applied to every experience, those that are good, neutral or bad, we will gain wisdom that then offers us equanimity within every experience. That wisdom is the active change of our perception but it is a change that only comes after consistent paying attention and meditation.      

Like scientists, we have the lab notes of someone else’s experiments but we must perform the experiments ourselves to prove entirely to ourselves and for our own personal benefit. These truths mean nothing if they have not been tried and tested for ourselves. Belief, academic knowledge and faith have no functional value here and will never bring about liberation.

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[1] See Dhammapada XX:5-7

[2] Also known as the “Heart Sutra.”

[3] A complete list of how each every experience associates to one or more of theses categories review a study on the Five Skandhas. A very good ref. can be found in “Ways of Enlightenment” Dharma Pub. Pgs.133-159

A little about CABP...

The Center for American Buddhist Practice was established in 2005 in order to propagate the Buddha's teachings and Buddhist practice throughout the Americas (and now Europe as well).  Our senior members originally joined together in San Diego and were influenced by the diverse traditions represented by the area's Buddhist community.  Our organization was formed to offer the opportunity for the English speaking community to practice and study Buddhism without the cultural and language barriers that presented themselves in the past, but aside from these characteristics we are not distinct or separate from the general Buddhist community.  In fact, we support and complement the various Buddhist traditions by encouraging a vibrant community for Americans.   Although we are not a monastic order, the senior members have been trained and have taught classes in Buddhism as lay teachers prior to CABP.  And, having been influenced in the Mahayana tradition, the teachers (priests) also take the Bodhisattva Vows beyond the Five Precepts.  We are respectful of all traditions and welcome diversity providing that they share in the core of Buddhist teachings: the Four Noble Truths (the truth of suffering and the release from suffering), the Noble Eight-fold path (the steps that lead to peace and fulfillment), the Five Precepts (the moral code), the concepts of Emptiness and Impermanence, etc. Each individual is invited to explore and discover the teachings of the Buddha such that when applied to daily life the promise these Truths hold will continually unfold.