It was a fun shoot, basically walking around Vancouver haunts like Commercial Drive, Granville Island, English Bay and of course, Stanley Park. The vibe is meant to be casual, just like you’re meeting the writer for coffee and walk around the neighborhood.
I have a confession to make. Buddhism has been my philosophy of choice for the past 5 years. The smiling face and rounded belly of the Buddha never fails to put me at ease, along with thoughts of non-attachment, meditation, and peace.
But there’s a new kid in town. Well, technically, this kid is older, wiser, and confuses people when they try to pronounce its name.
This kid is Taosim.
I’d read the classic text Tao te Ching in my early Buddhist explorations, but it must have been too poetic, and too simple, for me to truly grasp the wisdom before me.
It wasn’t until this summer, after discovering a passage from Adyashanti’s The End of Your World, that I rediscovered the concept of flow:
“Enlightenment is when everything within us in cooperation with the flow of life itself, with the inevitable.
When we’re not so conflicted and divided inside, we get a feel for the inevitable-where life is moving, what direction it is going in. We no longer ask “Is this the right way? How do I know it’s the right way?” This kind of question actually distorts our perception. There’s something much more subtle occurring; it’s the flow of life itself.
When we say a simple and sincere yes to life, yes to death, yes to the ego’s own dissolving, we don’t have to struggle anymore. It becomes a new way of navigating through life.
Flow is what navigates us through life – not concepts, not ideas, not what we should or shouldn’t do, not what’s right or wrong. Over time, what we come to see is that flow is always amazing.
It is the expression of unity, it directs our existence in ways that are healing and loving, and it brings things together in ways we couldn’t imagine.”
Naturally, I was intrigued. My biggest criticism of Buddhism (and other Western spiritual books) is the concept of surrender: surrender all your attachment to ideas, goals, and expectations, and you will find enlightenment.
Great, I thought. Does that mean I stop trying to do “something” with my life? Do I give up my desire to make thought-provoking films? Do I stop caring about anything? Do I wander the streets like a monk?
Of course, I knew it was more complex than that, but it was frustrating to continuously hear and read without any teacher going deeper.
Adyashanti was the first to eloquently offer the answer: that surrendering control over how your life “should be” actually opens you up to the life you want.
You start going with the flow.
This concept is a core philosophy of Taoism – which is why I decided to follow this particular flow and see where it would take me.
As for Buddha, he’s taking the news fairly well. In fact, he seems downright happy about it.
After 4 days in the Black Rock Desert, I’ve returned. Many friends have asked what the experience was like, yet predictably, I find it difficult to describe. Yet I’m going to try anyway in an upcoming article for BNT.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my experience at an Adyashanti satsang. Aside from the talk itself, the most interesting part of the evening was the questions asked by a few attendees.
I wrote, “And so it went. Question after question from attendees who desired an answer to their search. They practically dripped with craving; they were intoxicated with the possibilty of insight. They were like addicts to the truth.”
I wondered where this urge to “know” comes from. It wasn’t until I read a passage from Osho, in his book Courage: The Joy Of Living Dangerously, that I found a brilliant articulation of the issue:
The mind has some difficulty in accepting the idea that there is something that is not explainable. Mind has a very mad urge for everything to be explained. Anything that remains a puzzle, a paradox, goes on troubling your mind.
The whole of history of philosophy, religion, science, mathematics, has the same root, the same mind – the same itch.
You may scratch yourself one way, somebody else may do it differently, but the itch has to be understood. The itch is the belief that existence is not a mystery.
Mind can feel at home only if somehow existence is demystified.
Ideas are substitutes for where life is mysterious and you find gaps that cannot be filled with reality. You fill those gaps with ideas; and at least you start feeling satisfied that life is understood.
But is is not possible. Whatever you do, life is a mystery and is going to remain a mystery.
Norman Fischer, a Zen teacher recently returned from a meditation retreat, offers his views on why it’s important to tackle life’s problems head on.
If you live long enough you will discover the great secret we all hate to admit: life is inherently tough. Difficult things happen. You lose your job or your money or your spouse. You get old, you get sick, you die.
You slog through your days beleaguered and reactive even when there are no noticeable disasters — a normal day has its many large and small annoyances, and the world, if you care to notice, and it is difficult not to, is burning.
The people at the retreat were not in crisis — at least no more than anyone else. They are people who have made the practice of Zen meditation a regular part of their daily routine, and come here not to forget about their troubles and pressures, but for the opposite reason: to meet them head on, to digest and clarify them. Why would they want to do this?
Because it turns out that facing pain — not denial, not running in the opposite direction — is a practical necessity.
These questions are in response to a post on Brave New Traveler, asking readers to chronicle their current spiritual beliefs.
1. Why is there poverty and suffering in the world?
There is poverty and suffering because it serves as a catalyst for people to learn and grow. Buddhists would say it exists because of karmic debts that need to be repaid.
2. What is the relationship between science and religion?
Science is a secular religion that confirms much of what tradition already knows. The “knowing” gives meaning to human existence and our place in the world. The terms may be new, but the wisdom is old.
3. Why are so many people depressed?
People are depressed because they search for fulfillment in the wrong places. They are continually told, through media/society/peers to look somewhere other than themselves. They are distracted by external stimuli, rather than finding peace within.
Ian MacKenzie is a new media producer based in Vancouver, BC. He shoots video journalism and documentary films. He also blogs about pop culture, new media, philosophy, and religion.
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Ian MacKenzie is a new media producer based in Vancouver, BC. He shoots video journalism and 