A Backyard Practice Instruction
The field of boundless emptiness is what is there from the very beginning.
We must purify, cure, grind down or brush away all the tendencies that we have fabricated into apparent habits.
Then we reside in the clear circle of brightness.
What are our tendencies and habits that are habitual fabrications?
STOP! We benefit when we examine our tendencies and habits.
Here is a practice instruction of Hongzhi, a 12th century Chinesemonk.
Hongzhi’s practice instruction tells us that from the very beginning there is a field of boundless emptiness.
He states it as something he knows. Do we know it?
His second statement offers some spiritual direction with words like purify, cure, grind down or brush away all the tendencies that we have fabricated into apparent habits.
What must we do? We are to purify, cure, grind down or brush away… and what are we to purify, cure, grind down or brush away? All the tendencies that we have fabricated into apparent habits…
It is clear, simple and demands attention. OUR attention!
Hongzhi tells us we are making things up out of our inclinations or tendencies to do just that…we tend to make stuff up in such a way that they are habits or routines that get in the way of living in the clear circle of brightness in our backyard.
Habits limit us our access to the field of boundless emptiness.
When we limit access we limit our view. When we limit our view we reside in that limitation.
We Enter the Apparent World of Make -Believe
What is easily seen is the apparent world. It is the world of the senses. It includes all of the senses including thinking. It is the world we make up into apparent habits or customs or traditions. And these habits get fixed and set in a way that we think and believe that what we have made up, is the real deal.
We decide to remain attached to our make-believe world.
We sometimes go further with this limited approach by seeing anything outside of it as wrong, making what we have made-up as right. At the very least we decide to hang on to our habits.
The apparent world fools us time and time again. It is fair to say, it is a world filled with disappointment, confusion and struggle. It is the home of affliction.
Fortunately, the apparent world is not our home. Although the more we count on it as home, the more we suffer.
The Apparent World is Thin Ice
The ice looks like it will hold, but it always gives way. We end up cold and wet because we believe something about the apparent world that is not true. We tend to look for what we want to see rather than see what is.
The apparent world often fools us.
Instead of seeing reality, we trust the thin ice. We want it to be safe and sound, so we see it as safe and sound.
Although the truth is in plain sight, we don’t see it. We ignore the messages and warnings. We make the same mistake as though it is brand new.
We want the ice to hold. It fools us. Sometimes it appears to hold, but it inevitably breaks apart and we get wet. It’s the nature of ice. It is the nature of the human realm.
Are We ALL fundamentalists to Some Extent?
Have we all made up a lot of habits that we prize in such a way that the habits exclude us from the clear circle of brightness?
Hongzhi’s practice instruction is to purify, cure, grind down or brush away the tendency to make things up. He suggests that the made up habits prohibit living in the clear circle of brightness.
Where does it leave us?
A Spiritual Refugee from the Apparent World
We are all spiritual refugees.
We begin to know this truth when we realize that we cannot count on the habits we made up.
It is a relief to know it’s not our home. Hongzhi suggests a strong practice to purify, cure, grind down or brush away all tendencies and habits.
When we realize it, we forgive the ice and all things of the apparent world. We no longer blame a thing or another, not even our own body or mind.
We stop relying on the apparent world. And when we do, we begin to see the proof of the boundless emptiness in everything. Everything points to reality. Everything comes together and falls apart and lets us know we are refugees.
We take refuge in the field of boundless emptiness.
An Invitation from a Sufi Muslim
"Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about." Rumi
Don’t give up. Keep going.
OM
🙏
May reading Practice Reminders help you on your spiritual journey.
