Back to the Basics study - All Dharmas Agree on One Point

[Janet Gilmore]

Dear Sangha,

Tomorrow's Back to the Basics series will continue with a talk and discussion about the one point that all Buddhist teachings agree upon. 

All of the teachings can be distilled into this one point, this one point that all the Buddhist schools, all buddhas, bodhisattvas, enlightening beings and teachers of dharma agree upon.  In plain language, that one point of agreement is this:  we suffer because we believe in the existence of a solid and permanent self and that unexamined, implicit view perpetuates greed, hatred and ignorance and fuels the unending churn of the wheel of samsara.  

Or Pema Chodron puts it even more directly, "The entire Buddhist teachings (dharma) are about lessening one's self absorption, one's ego-clinging. This is what brings happiness to you and all beings."

When the Buddha woke up under the bodhi tree, he is said to have said:

I wandered through the rounds of countless births,

Seeking but not finding the builder of this house.

Sorrowful indeed is birth again and again.

Oh, house builder! You have now been seen.

You shall build the house no longer. 

All your rafters have been broken, Your ridgepole shattered.

My mind has attained to unconditional freedom.

Achieved is the end of craving.

What the Buddha is talking about is none other than the cause of suffering and the cessation of suffering. 

The "ridgepole" is belief in a substantial, unchanging self.  When we operate out of belief (conscious or unconscious) in this illusory self we are driven by  grasping and clinging.  We require stuff and lots of it, money and power, excitement and pleasure, praise and approval and absolutely no criticism whatsoever.  No matter how much we acquire, how much we feed this illusory self, the more we need and the more we want.  Our belief in self requires that we are constantly on guard, constantly protecting.  Everything that displeases us becomes a threat and we build a cocoon. Our world becomes smaller and smaller until we begin to see others as enemies.  It is a fruitless and unending battle. 

Nothing will satisfy this ego.  Ultimately, nothing can protect it either.  Why?  Because  it doesn't exist in the first place. When the ridgepole is shattered we are free from the need to construct, protect and embellish this self that doesn’t exist in the first place.  What a relief! No self, no problem!

All the schools of teaching (theravada, mahayana, vajrayana, dzogchen) agree to this one point -- that it is our unquestioned view of self and the subsequent unconscious thoughts and actions that shore up this view of selfhood that causes our problems, our suffering.   Seeing through this false view and opening to the true nature of reality and our own existence is the point of the path.  Cultivating "Right View" is what this is talking about.  Simple but maybe not easy.

From Anam Thubten's book, No Self No Problem, he writes:

We are nonmaterial. We are insubstantial. We are not like a table that eventually breaks down. The very essence of who we are goes beyond the conditions of decay and impermanence. Yes, our body is impermanent but our true nature is not impermanent. Our true nature is deathless and divine, transcending all imperfections. Because of this we are all equal, we are all one. Nobody is better or worse than anybody else. When someone manifests their true nature, they live out of love, kindness, and joy. They inflict less pain on others. When we meditate, sooner or later we discover that this is not just abstract theory. This corresponds to the truth, to reality.

He goes on to say:

This consciousness is surprisingly accessible to each of us. When that awakening happens, there is no longer any desire to become someone other than who we are. Every previous idea of who we are vanishes and along with it the pain, guilt, and pride associated with our body. In Buddhism this is called no sell. This is the only true awakening. Everything else is a spiritual bypass. This awakening is what we should be aiming for from the very beginning of being on the path. It will rescue us from falling into unnecessary spiritual traps.

It's helpful to remember this is the whole point -- to practice in this way and to live our lives in this way.  We could use this as a mantra for all of our activities, each day. 

Q: "What is the main point?" 

A: " oh -right, I remember now:   to see through and let go of this clinging and grasping and resisting and avoidance that is all fueled by a view of a solid & permanent self that doesn't even exist!"

So it is helpful to come back again and again to this basic question and this basic teaching which is the crux of the matter.

All the great teachers of our lineage agree on this point.  From Buddha to Nagarjuna, Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal,  Shantideva, Longchenpa, Machig Labdron, Atisha, Dudjom Lingpa, His Holiness the Dali Lama and Anam Thubten all are teaching this one point and revealing ways and methods to come to this realization for ourselves. Even though we might understand this teaching and even believe this teaching,  it will not liberate us from suffering until we are firmly convinced through our own realization. Then we must continue to integrate that understanding with our own moment to moment experience, which has been conditioned by decades of habit. 

As I continue to explore this huge and essential topic, I look for ways to hold it up to the light of understanding, bring it into this very moment and make it relevant.  So that is always the question I bring to these basic, core teachings.  How do we learn this? How do we practice this?  How do we integrate this view in all of our activities?  

With love and gratitude,

Janet Gilmore