Good morning,
Good afternoon,
Good evening to those listening.
So this week we are exploring the stubborn mind and how our views,
Our opinions,
Our beliefs are really our framework for reality is often one of the strongest attachments that people cling to,
That we cling to.
And we all have views,
You know,
Some are harmless and some are very harmful,
But whether harmful or harmless,
When we cling to our views,
Suffering follows.
The way that views become attachments is that we fuse our identity into our views or our views get infused with our identity,
Kind of like this is my view or this is my belief and therefore this is me.
You know,
We reinforce our views by the labels that we give ourselves,
Like the label of I'm conservative or I'm a liberal.
This is a view or I'm spiritual or I'm philosophical.
These are views.
These are labels that project out a particular worldview.
And then there are views that seemingly provide us with security.
Something to stand on in a very uncertain world.
You know,
The view of security is often entangled with democracy.
There is a strong should associated with security,
Like how we should be as citizens in our democracy.
That's a view.
And it's supported by a group view or in the Orwellian sort of terms,
Like a group think.
So then as you know,
What happens in this group view or group think is that then we have a sense of belonging.
You know,
We belong to the group that is for something or against something.
And many,
Many people are shackled to an idea of for or against or right and wrong.
And because of that tight holding,
They suffer.
So this is from the Sutta Nipata from the early Buddhist teachings.
Those who cling to views disputing,
Saying only this is true,
Dispute among themselves,
Stuck in their own opinions.
But the wise do not enter into such disputes.
The wise do not enter into such disputes.
So that's interesting.
The purpose of the Dharma is to have enough peace,
Enough space,
So that we can see what takes us away from it.
And one important place to look is where peace can kind of evade us,
Is when we are stuck in our fixed views,
Stuck in our opinions.
As Dharma practitioners,
It is to our benefit to begin to really start to think Dharmically.
And by Dharmically,
I mean we're not just going along with our thinking and being dragged around by our thoughts and acting impulsively from those thoughts.
Dharma practice is the practice of expanding our views,
Questioning what's being produced.
So how to do that?
When looking at the Middle Way,
The Buddhist path of the Middle Way,
It encourages us to hold our views lightly,
Rather like tools than absolute truth.
To see if our views are actually conducive to living peacefully.
Do our opinions lead us towards freedom from clinging?
And when they don't serve us,
Can we put them down?
There's a very simple and old slogan that comes from the Zen teacher Suzuki Roshi,
Who summarized Buddhism in three words.
So it's very convenient.
It's something that you can take with you.
So very portable.
And those three words are,
Not always so.
Not always so.
When brought to views,
What other perspective can we bring?
You know,
Is this view,
These strong opinions?
Not always so.
So one of the ways to think dharmically,
To think what other ways we can see a situation,
Is to ask this question,
Not always so.
Maybe it's not just one way,
One perspective.
What other way,
What else is going on?
Like what other ways are here?
So Buddhism says that one of the primary hindrances to freedom is having these fixed views,
These fixed opinions and stories.
That one of the ways to overcome is to practice a form of thinking that maybe you haven't used before.
And that's this dharmic way of thinking.
It's a liberating way of thinking.
It's the not always so way of thinking.
And it doesn't involve adopting a set of beliefs.
Rather,
It's adopting a practice of inquiry,
Of actually questioning.
Not always so.
Can you use this to open up?
See if that phrase opens you up and supports turning towards the experience.
So these are my thoughts on views.
I thank you for your consideration and your practice.
Many blessings.
