DHARMA THE CAT . . . MULTI-FAITH COMMENTARY ON EPISODE THREE

AUTHOR’S COMMENTARY
DHARMA THE CAT: EPISODE 3 - "MINDFULNESS"
by David Lourie
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Well, Bodhi has stepped into another spiritual pitfall: this time it’s head-in-the-clouds syndrome.

This episode is about "mindfulness," which means keeping one’s thoughts and awareness totally in the present moment. "The Moment" encompasses not only one’s own feelings and movements, but also the social and physical environments you’re in.

But to be truly "Mindful" in a Buddhist context, one must go a little further than that. Buddhist mindfulness requires an ever-present awareness of the dharma, and the impermanence and insubstantiality that underlies our experience of the moment.

Directing one’s thoughts to achieve an expanded awareness of the moment like this is empowering, and one is less likely to stumble when living in this state, because one has not strayed off the path as Bodhi did. But being caught up and swept away with one’s feelings like Bodhi was is really an invitation to disaster, and somehow brings to mind a parallel idea: "pride precedes a fall." –David Lourie

Now, if you want some authentic Buddhist commentary on this subject, tune into PETER MASEFIELD’s erudite explications. And to get some non-Buddhist points of view on "The Lesson," check the MULTI-FAITH commentary below, by representatives of Baha’i, Christianity, Hinduism, Interfaith, Islam, and Judaism.

A BAHA'I PERSPECTIVE
DHARMA THE CAT EPISODE 3 "MINDFULNESS"
by Paul Booth
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Poor fella! There is our hero just enjoying one of those lovely 'It's great to be alive' feelings when, in his delight at the glory of God's creation, he comes a cropper. Life just ain't fair! Or is it? He does, after all, receive a timely - if painful reminder to return to the path.

The trouble is, of course, our "attachment" to this world can indeed lead us to stray. We forget that the beauties of creation be it gold, beautiful trees, clouds or whatever are but shadows, symbols of realities in the Divine realm. That is not to suggest we should not rejoice in God's creation; just that we should not become so attached to this ephemeral world that we become unmindful of the path to "the real thing" - our true goal.  Our hero's plight put mein mind of these words of Baha'u'llah:-

"He is not to be numbered with the people of Baha who followeth his mundane desires, or fixeth his heart on things of the earth. He is My true follower who, if he come to a valley of pure gold will pass straight through it aloof as a cloud, and will neither turn back, nor pause.  Such a man is assuredly of Me." [Advent of Divine Justice, Page 32] --- Paul Booth - Paul@nur.win-uk.net
Paul edits a Baha'i newsletter called "Living Letters".
"The diversity in the human family should be the cause of love and harmony, as it is in music where many different notes blend together in the making of a perfect chord." The Baha'i Writings Explore: www.acemake.com/ukbahai/ (faster and more interactive) or www.bahai.org ( more graphics - prettier - the official site).

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A BUDDHIST'S COMMENTARY
DHARMA THE CAT: EPISODE 3 - "MINDFULNESS"
by Peter Masefield, Pali scholar
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In almost all forms of Buddhist meditation, it is necessary to try to achieve a balance between mindfulness (sati) and concentration (samaadhi). (It should be noted that I am not here referring to the two distinct meditational practices of calm (samatha) and insight (vipassanaa), for both of these practices themselves require that the practitioner maintain a balance between mindfulness and concentration).

Concentration is reasonably easy to understand: it comes about when the mind becomes one-pointed, totally focussed upon a single object, whatever this may be.  In meditation, it is often the flow of the breath, or its contact at a specific point, such as the tip of the nose; but it is equally possible to be concentrating in a blind rage, when the mind is totally focussed on anger.

Mindfulness is rather more difficult to explain.  Literally, the Pali term sati is derived from a verbal root meaning to remember.  Sati, therefore, is used to denote a general state of awareness of present circumstances in which one finds oneself at any given moment--in other words, remembering who you are and what you are doing, and the circumstances surrounding you.

In the case of meditation, one has to remain mindful of the fact that one is meditating, for it is all too easy for the mind to become so concentrated on its object of meditation that mindfulness subsides, at which point one normally falls asleep.

A good way of understanding the difference between concentration and mindfulness is to consider the case of a man, standing in front of a large tree in some field, waving a red rag at a bull.  The bull, endangered by the red rag, begins to charge.  At the last minute, the man steps smartly to one side, and the bull collides with the tree.  This is because his mind, wholly concentrated on its goal, has become devoid of the balancing power of mindfulness, which would have allowed him to notice that the man had moved.

One of the many sensations said to accompany meditation at a certain level of concentration is known as joy, or rapture, (piiti) which is said to admit of five grades: (1) minor, which is able only to raise the hairs on the body; (2) momentary, which is like flashes of lightning at different moments; (3) showering, which breaks over the body again and again like waves on the sea shore; (4) uplifting, which can be powerful enough to levitate the body and make it spring up into the air; and (5) pervading, when it completely pervades the whole body, as though it were a filled bladder, or a rock cave filled by a huge inundation (Vism 143f).

Clearly Bodhi has here attained the third or fourth of these grades.  But he has, seemingly, also neglected to maintain the appropriate level of mindfulness which would have held that joy and concentration in check.  Instead, he becomes so concentrated on the joy that he ceases to be mindful of his surroundings, including the sign which he eventually trips over, just as the bull collided with the tree after ceasing to be aware of changed circumstances.

Concentration and mindfulness are thus like two playing cards mutually supporting each other.  Should one fall away, the other also immediately collapses, as indeed does the meditation itself. -- Peter Masefield

* Buddhism -- A Concise Introduction

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A CHRISTIAN'S COMMENT
DHARMA THE CAT EPISODE 3 "MINDFULNESS"
by Rev Bern Stevens
The Uniting Church, Sydney, Australia
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Dharma keeps his cool and his wisdom as he stays on the path while Bodhi, in his exuberant response to his feelings on a bright and enjoyable day, allows his mind to wander from the safe path.

Is it wrong for us to get excited about our feelings of pleasure in a wonderful world? Should we always play safe when there are risks involved in venturing into new territory or new experiences?

Is there a healthy balance to be found between exciting enjoyment of the world around us on the one hand and carefully calculated logical following of the safe way others have already charted for us on the other?

We all face these questions as we seek a fulfilling life of personal satisfaction and service of others without falling on our faces because of a " ‘head in the clouds’ syndrome".

Must we be self-reliant in finding a personal balance, or is there help available to us?

A Christian view emphasises both personal responsibility and corporate community guidance. We are called upon to consult individually the guiding Spirit beyond ourselves which we call God. This is a personal prayer which may open up clarity of purpose. It involves a reflective open approach to the options available to us in a logical, thoughtful way, and is best approached through deliberate meditation in a quiet time in a quiet place - taking time off from what may well be for many of us a frantic rush of life from one activity to another.

For a Christian a reminder comes from Psalm 46:10 in the Scriptures: "Be still and Know...", or, be in touch with the spirit of life so that you can be focussed on what matters. Alongside this personal approach is the corporate strength of purpose of family and community in which we take our place. To sit and share experiences, both positive and negative, often opens up for us some new or unexpected perception of how we may live enjoying both the emotionally exciting and satisfying elements of life and the benefits of lessons learned by others who have trodden the path before us.

So the self giving, caring spirit that we call the Christ spirit is active through each of us to each other. This we call Christian love. It involves "mindfulness" of each other’s essential needs, and readiness to act responsibly towards each other. -- Rev Bern Stevens

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HINDU PERSPECTIVE
DHARMA THE CAT EPISODE 3 "MINDFULNESS"
by Dr Greg Bailey
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The commonality between yoga and the principal forms of Buddhist meditation means that the idea of mindfulness, though not literally identical, is certainly present in all forms of meditation based on Classical Yoga as this was summarised in the Yogasutras in the second century BCE.  An awareness of self that transcends all other forms of understanding is the nearest Hindu ascetics and yogins will go to developing a form of mindfulness.  This is a different notion than we find in Buddhism where the meditator is required to meditate on all mental and material processes, realising that he is part of these processes.  For the yogin, there is one thing that exists beyond all process and this is the self or aatman.  Full consciousness of the permanent self excludes all lesser forms of knowledge, though it does presuppose a lengthy meditational path that results not just in consciousness of the self, but in an intuitive knowledge of the unsatisfactory nature of existence.  Much useless knowledge is left aside, though the yogin must still live within the material and social world, retaining an awareness that this world is spiritually inferior to the consciousness of self.

Bodhi has acquired a temporary infatuation with a pleasant state of mind and he mistakes it for a permanent state of consciousness that is in some way blissful.  However, there do exist some controls enabling the meditator to distinguish between true and false states of consciousness.  These controls are usually defined in terms of paths that have been traversed for centuries by teachers who have engaged in mental experimentation.  These teachers have crystallised their researches and experiences into mental and moral paths that have been translated into language comprehensible to those who have not previously accessed the correct experience, one that always has a knowledge component built into it.  Bodhi has gone off his own tangent, forgetting that he must follow a path which extends his meditational practice simply beyond the attainment of pleasant feelings.

The majority of Hindus follow the path of devotion or bhakti.  This defines a particular end - some kind of union or association with the deity, even if this is just a vision of the deity - that can be attained in one or many lives.  Particular approaches to the deity, such as hymn singing, image worship, meditation or just devotional action, are laid down in many different teachings - especially in books called Puraanas - and these allow individuals to pace their own movement towards the spiritual end.  Often these involve a "recollection" of the deity, the word for "recollection" being the same as that used for mindfulness in Buddhism.  In this practice of mindfulness the sole focus is on the deity and  aberrant forms of behaviour are sometimes accepted as long as the mental focus is kept up.

Usually though, for those whose religious goals are modest, there is always a path and this must be traversed and its boundaries known.  To deviate too far from the path leads only to confusion and silly mistakes, all too human as this might seem.  We should not, of course, condemn Bodhi too much.  His intention his right, only his method is wrong. -- Dr Greg Bailey

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INTERFAITH PERSPECTIVE
DHARMA THE CAT EPISODE 3 "MINDFULNESS"
by Rev Paul Brindel, Santa Cruz, California
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Bodhi is clearly not adept at leaving the path, an activity that requires skill, strength, wakefulness, and the clarity to know when, how, and if to return to the path. A path after all is nothing more than a way through the wilds that has been worn smooth by the many feet of those who have come before. Old paths, ones we have trod before, are familiar, we know where they go. We can count on their being swept clean and free of bumps. Or at least we know where the bumps are. We are guided by signs reminding us to "Stay on the Path".

Paths that are new to us are new at every moment. At any point, it is sheer faith that leads us to believe that it will take us from where we are to where we think we want to be. We have faith in our maps, our teachers, and our histories. Paths intersect with other paths, branching and reforming, seemingly leading in the same direction, and often offering alternative routes to "where we think we want to be." A path can take us back to a familiar intersection if we find it is not taking us where we want to go.

Walking off the path is another story. This is the art of "walking wild". The way of the path maker. There are no paths. There are no signs to trip over, but.. there are bumps and bugs and beasts. It is best to have a good compass, a GPS, a friend, and a map of nearby paths others have taken through the wild.

Bodhi "feels" awake and "high" forgetting that true wakefulness is not a feeling but a state of being. I wonder, given Bodhi's state of mind, if he even knows he has left the path. Of course, if he had stayed on the path, he might have (heaven forbid) stepped on Dharma.

Doubtful, knowing Dharma. -- Rev Paul Brindel

ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
DHARMA THE CAT EPISODE 3 "MINDFULNESS"
by Saifullah Khalid, National Vice President
Ahmadiyya Muslim Association of Australia
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Bodhi appears to be very excited and in a state of great joy aptly described by the "Head in the cloud syndrome". As a result, he becomes unmindful of the course appointed for him . Dharma reminds him but Bodhi's over-indulgence keeps him from listening to the advice, and he goes astray from the right path and falls.

This is a symbolic representation of a situation which most of us are often confronted with in actual life. People often go astray from the right path when they lose sight of the purpose of their life and are fully occupied with worldly pursuits and sensual enjoyments. Referring to it Quran says: "Mutual rivalry in seeking increase(in worldly possessions) diverts you (from God) till you reach the graves." The verse means that vying with one another for increase of wealth, position and prestige lies at the root of all human troubles and of neglect of higher values of life. He remains entirely engrossed in these things till death comes upon him and then he finds that he had wasted his precious life in idle pursuits.

OBJECT OF MAN'S LIFE:  Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian India(1835-1908), Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, describing the purpose of man's life in the light of Holy Quran says: "Though different people, on account of their short-sightedness or lack of courage, appoint various types of objectives for their lives and stop short at worldly purposes and desires, yet the purpose that God Almighty has specified in His Holy Word is: "I have created Jinn and men so that they should worship Me" (51:57) According to this verse the true purpose of human life is the worship and understanding of God Almighty and devotion to Him." "It is obvious that it is not open to man that he should himself appoint the purpose of his life by his own authority, inasmuch as man does not arrive in this world of his own will, nor will he depart from this world of his own will. He is a created being and He Who created him and bestowed upon him better and higher faculties than those bestowed upon other animates, has appointed a purpose for his life. Whether anyone comprehends that purpose or not, without doubt the purpose of man's creation is the worship and understanding of God Almighty and to lose himself in Him."

EXPLORING PURPOSE OF LIFE:  "The purpose of the creation of a thing is determined by its highest achievement beyond which its faculties cannot rise. For instance, the highest a bullock is capable of is ploughing, or irrigation, or transportation, and therefore these are the purpose of its life and it cannot rise above them. But when we take stock of man's faculties and powers to discover his highest capacity, we find that he is invested with the faculty of seeking after God, so much so that he desires that he should become so devoted to God's love that he should have nothing of his own and everything should become God's. He shares his natural needs like food and drink and rest with other animates, and in industry some animals are ahead of him; for instance, the bees produce such excellent honey from every type of flower that man has so far not been able to compete with them. It is clear, therefore, that the highest capacity of man is meeting with God Almighty and thus the true purpose of his life is that that the window of his heart should open towards God."(Islami usul ki philosophy P 100-108)

RECOGNITION OF GOD REQUIRES MAN TO ADOPT HIS ATTRIBUTES:  The purpose of man's creation is fulfilled only when he receives the impress of God's Attributes and exhibits them during the conduct of his life, and to regulate and discipline it. Quran says: "(We take) Allah's colour and who is better than Allah's colouring, and we are His worshippers." (2:139) In other words the essence of worship is to dye oneself with the colour of God's Attributes. When man dyes himself in God's colour, he is attracted and loved by Him. God is Beneficent and a person who dyes himself in that colour shows beneficence to others. God is Merciful, and such a person takes mercy on others. God is Loving, Caring, Sustaining, Compassionate, Forbearing, Forgiving, Appreciating, Helper, Friend, Guide, Guardian, Nourisher---and so is His true servant. He, then, becomes like a piece of iron which when thrown in a huge intense fire acquires the properties of fire like heat and light etc. Nevertheless, its properties are not independent on their own, but are acquired and borrowed and will be quickly lost when withdrawn from fire. The divines and saints, who lose themselves in God, acquire the reflection of His Attributes, but their followers who lack proper understanding of spiritual matters start deifying them and thus lose the right path. As a matter of fact the whole of the universe along with the forces operating it, and all other creation, act like a mirror in which the God's Attributes are reflected.

Bodhi had a path to tread, but he became unmindful of it, despite the reminders of Dharma. As a result, he slipped, fell, and was hurt. Man too has a path to tread---in the form of his religious teachings. But when engrossed in worldly pursuits he becomes neglectful and unmindful of it, and loses sight of his obligations towards the Creator and His creation, he too similarly falls and gets hurt not only spiritually but also temporally.  -- Saifullah Khalid

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A RABBI'S COMMENT
DHARMA THE CAT EPISODE 3 "MINDFULNESS"
by Rabbi Brian D, Fox AM.,DD
Senior Rabbi Temple Emanuel Sydney Australia.
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Dharma is learning an important lesson: that duty and responsibility are the whole duty of a person. It is they that ennoble one.It is they that make life meaningful. It is they that protect each one of us from inhumanity. If one is at prayer and a baby is heard crying: see to the baby first and then pray. It is okay to occasionally enter the clouds, but duty and responsibility are about the here and now. Come back! -- Rabbi Brian Fox.

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A PAGAN (WICCAN) PERSPECTIVE
DHARMA THE CAT: EPISODE 3 - "MINDFULNESS"
by Mari Powers
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Bodhi is on the path to enlightenment. For him staying on the path is finding balance in all things and keeping his feet on the ground. On the Pagan path we are mindful that we walk on sacred ground though our paths are many. We do not have one path for all. And our path often leads off the beaten track.

When I think of the relationship between heaven and earth I think of the Wiccan tree meditation. We slow our breath and our feet become roots that go deep into the earth while our arms become branches reaching out in the sky. We are the connection between heaven and earth.

The experience of ecstasy and a passion for beauty lead many of us to find our feet lifting toward the green meadow with our heads in the sky. The everyday is sacred, and the extraordinary is sacred, too. After all, we are a people who celebrate life, and worship divinity in nature.

Whenever I remember to step off the everyday path and make time for bliss and extraordinary joy in my life, I remember it that it is the journey that is important. And I have learned, like our friend Bodhi, that if you choose to walk on the edge of magic; it is of great importance to watch for signs.  -- Mari Powers

A TAOIST'S PERSPECTIVE
DHARMA THE CAT: EPISODE 3 "MINDFULNESS"
by Charles Cromer
Founder of the Taoist Circle Organization
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As in Buddhism, Taoism also teaches mindfulness. Being mindful is a very difficult thing to accomplish, but once practiced, it enhances ones life.

First let me describe what I mean by being mindful. To be mindful is to be aware of all that is around you. Granted, one cannot truly be aware of everything, but you can become much more aware of things happening around you. When you walk, are you aware of yourself walking? The pressure on your feet? When you breath, do you feel your diaphragm and ribs move in unison with your breath? When you are typing on your computer, do you feel each key strike?

No, most of us don't. These oversights are illustrated in a larger scale by Bodhi's actions. He is so caught up in the moment of what he is doing that he fails to realize what is in his path. This type of tunnel vision often limits the enjoyment we get out of our lives. We are so busy doing this or that, on our way we fail to smell the wonderful smells of the street markets, the beauty of church bells ringing out melody, or the laughter of children at play in our neighborhood.

Taoism teaches to be mindful of all these things. It teaches to slow your ambitions, desires, emotions, and life so that you can, "stop and smell the roses." You will only live this particular day once in a lifetime, don't rush it past, enjoy it.

How I put this lesson of mindfulness to use is through meditation. Most people think of meditation as an emptying of the mind. I do just the opposite. I try to feel and sense everything around me. I will sit out in my yard and feel the sun on my skin, the touch of the wind, the smell of the earth, the song of the bird, and even the rhythm of cars passing by. It is a beautiful world if you stop and take notice. -- Charles Cromer at Ccdrogan@aol.com  Founder of the Taoist Circle Organization at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7201/index.html