Buddha Doc

Even if you learn the truths of Buddhahood, that too is to misuse the mind. You have to be free of preoccupations. You have to be normal. - Zen Saying in the Zen Calendar (September 22, 2006).

Day 272. Peak Experience! I went by the bookstore to purchase another Barbara Kingsolver novel, and lo! and Behold! It happened to be on the "buy 2 get 1 free" table. The table also had another of her novels, AND "To Kill A Mocking Bird" which is on my Must Read This Year list because of the 50th anniversary of its publication. Obviously, blogs for the next - oh, say 57 days - will likely be shortened. I will be reading a couple of REAL writers.

I continue to observe the depth of my practice penetrating my consciousness in ever increasing manifestations. During a session with my last client this evening, I found myself discussing the concepts of Non-Dualistic Thought and Big Mind. I drew a little circle with the words "A's Preferred Version of Reality" inside; then I drew a large circle that encompassed it with the words "Big Mind . . . . Reality As It Is" written along the border of the larger circle. In the space between the small circle and the larger one, I listed two of the topics that are currently causing my client emotional pain, noting that they fell "outside" of her preferred version of reality, but "inside" Big Mind. Next, I pointed to the space between the inner circle and the outer circle and said, "This is where our suffering lies. When we are attached to a certain preference for how Reality is, anything that falls outside of that preference causes us pain. Reality doesn't much care about our preferred version of it. It simply unfolds as it is going to. Healing occurs as we enlarge our 'preferred' version of Reality until it encompasses everything. That is when we have Big Mind. That is where our suffering ends."

I am studiously mindful regarding the imposition of Buddhist terminology on my clients, but this client had previously indicated an openness to Buddhist thought as it might relate to our therapy. I shared my hunch that the reason statues of the Buddha usually depict him smiling is because he is chuckling at the numerous occasions each day in which he catches himself having a "preferred version of reality." Several examples of how I do that in my own life came to mind and I mentioned a few: my preference that a traffic light stay green until I have passed through the intersection; a preference that the first store I go to has a certain jigsaw puzzle I am searching for; preferring that my son's car actually runs for two weeks in a row. We discussed more serious examples, including her preference that her dad responds with empathy when she confronts him about his neglect of her during the throes of a serious eating disorder.

It was a powerful and productive session. Though my field continues to publish extensively on applying eastern thought to the practice of western psychology, I feel my practice of Buddhism influencing my clinical work at a very personal level. I don't usually identify it specifically as Buddhism (this is, after all, Oklahoma); nonetheless, my sitting practice is ever present in my office. It feels ethical and applicable. Clients seem to think so, too.

Perhaps my not-so-big mind is growing Bigger. I sense an evolving integration among previously disparate facets of myself. The common denominator can be reduced to dwelling in Reality, which is proving to be a truly vast space.

Gassho,
CycleBuddhaDoc