"Way-seeking mind" is a phrase one hears in Zen that seems to mean different things to different people. To me, it's something in us that seeks the dharma even when we're not conscious of seeking the dharma. Perhaps we don't even know what the dharma is. Yet the events of our life bring us to the dharma. We find the path and realize we'd already been walking it.
At Huffington Post, Susan Piver ("Are You a Buddhist? You Tell Me.") talks about her way-seeking mind journey in Tibetan Buddhism. She said she read one of Trungpa Rinpoche's books, The Heart of the Buddha, and recognized that she was a Buddhist. I had a similar experience many years ago, reading a book by Thich Nhat Hanh.
It's something like stumbling along in the dark and then turning on a flashlight and seeing where you are. And you see that in a meandering sort of way you'd already been going in a good direction, without realizing it. But now that you've got some light and can make out a path, you can direct yourself with a little more awareness.
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi said, "Actually the way-seeking mind is the conviction to fly as a bird that flies in the air, to enjoy our being in this vast world of freedom." Sometimes we may get bogged down with problems and worries and be unaware of the way-seeking mind. Yet the way-seeking mind still seeks.
There's another kind of seeking that Piver discusses also, which is spiritual materialism, or seeking a state of mind to escape from our problems. An example might be meditating to achieve a state of bliss, or to have "supernatural" experiences. (One of the first things I learned as a meditator was how easy it is to give yourself hallucinations, even when you know they are hallucinations. It's entertaining, but pointless.)
If you browse the religion and spirituality sections of most bookstores, you see one book after another that promises to reveal some secret or technique for getting the life you want. Those are other examples of spiritual materialism. As Piver says, we probably all crave some spiritual materialism now and then, even as our way-seeking mind guides us in a different direction. It can take some spiritual maturity to sort out the difference between escaping/clinging and genuine seeking. A good teacher also can help.
The way-seeing mind doesn't guide all of us in exactly the same way, so everyone's journey is unique. Yet it's also the same journey, and we're all journeying together. Wonderful paradox!
“If you browse the religion and spirituality sections of most bookstores, you see one book after another that promises to reveal some secret or technique for getting the life you want. Those are other examples of spiritual materialism. As Piver says, we probably all crave some spiritual materialism now and then, even as our way-seeking mind guides us in a different direction. It can take some spiritual maturity to sort out the difference between escaping/clinging and genuine seeking. A good teacher also can help.”
Ah, the paradox of the self-help section of books! If you didn’t think something was broken in you that you needed something external to fix it, you wouldn’t be in the market for a self-help book.
The maturity of which you speak is the difference between “Who can I meet, what can I do, where can I go to get better?” versus “What is This?”
In 1988, my daughter had just given birth to my first grandchild, she was diagnosed with medula-blastoma, cancer of the brain stem. She died 10 months later. All my life I had been a very active, christian, but for some reason going through the trauma of a new baby and illness/treatments of my oldest child, I found no comfort in christianity. Each day I had to take her for treatments, I found myself focusing on breathing, on each step I took, things I never consciously realized before. I had never read or been around anyone with Buddhist beliefs. After my daughter died, I started thinking about my christian faith and the new way I was approaching life. I am now studying and meditating daily, I have more peace in my heart and daily life through Buddhism. I do not know where the inital thoughts came from, I am just glad they did, it is the only thing that got me through my loss.
I know you are right about the way seeking mind.
When I heard my first teaching from a real buddhist teacher my continual reaction was, I Know This! I am sure everyone thought I was crazy because, during the teachings, I was often smiling and mumbling affirmations. Sometimes lol with the joy of it. There were some tears of joy too.
Knowing it and having support in that knowing was something I did not find in the usual Christian, American culture, unfortunately, causing me an existential crisis that lasted most of my life.
As a dharma practitioner I have resolved much of my existential crisis. Sooner or later its all good!
In my experience, the way seeking mind can be a bit “tricky.” On one hand, it can be a kind of clinging attachment/motivation toward doing practice that helps — and then it doesn’t help anymore and needs to be let go.
Sometimes the former gets me into the door of attentiveness — mindfulness — and sometimes the latter becomes needful so that I can rest in the dharma/sangha/buddha.
Hi Barbara, I think since we reached a stage of understanding the meaning of dhamma, now we can say buddhist path is a pathless path. When I tried to explain this to a person who has no idea of 4 noble truths and 8 fold path, this discussion went for a toss. Then I realised the importance of discussing things step by step. Here, let us have more discussion on seeking not to seek. Yup..a wonderful, blissful paradox.
to seek not to seek is to seek… i find it my great dilema … i’m trapped in wanting to find something yet know there is nothing to find … letting go then grasping again … and again …
For me one example of way seeking mind was the woods. As a child and youth the forest called to me. I loved to wander to an isolated spot, just sit, and get a whiff of the freedom and bliss that rode on the breeze that rustled through the leaves. My mind would quiet and I felt connected to all.
to seek not to seek is to seek… i find it my great dilema … i’m trapped in wanting to find something yet know there is nothing to find … letting go then grasping again … and again …
In relation to the “effort or surrender” dilemma, Eckhart Tolle suggests that we apply effort not to getting somewhere (or becoming someone) else; but rather to going deeper and deeper into Now, into the Truth of who we already and always Are.
If you’re up for flowing with a somewhat challenging, though sublimely beautiful and poetically-precise description (in language which employs terms from Hinduism, Christianity & new physics) of this paradox, have a look/see at this video clip of Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath.
Here’s the link to Eckhart Tolle describing the effort/surrender dilemma.
Mila.. thank you.. enjoyed both clips … understand them too … Still trapped in wanting to find something…. achieve something … let go of something … be something … it’s the greatest of challenges for me … Barbara wrote the other day she was able early on in meditation to create hallucinations … that would have destroyed my practice had it happened to me… I’ve wanted to ’see things’ ‘hear things’ ‘have god talk with me’ … but lo my meditations have been consistently without any dramatic happenings … like Suzuki said “like walking in the fog and finally realizing I’ve gotten wet’ but I still want to KNOW! And even though i know I know … I want to really know … and my wily ego says “but you don’t want to lose me” …and my battle goes on …. albeit with momentary insights into NOW! Thank you for the links.
It would have destroyed mine, too, except that from the beginning I had teachers telling me that “visions” and other supernatural experiences were all junk and indicated I was not “doing” zazen correctly, and to just ignore them.
lee — Are you working with a teacher? It may be that the sorts of issues you’ve brought up are best worked through in the context of a ongoing personal relationship with someone who’s successfully navigated the territory …. just a thought
In terms of the desire for a “shift in perception” — seems to me this isn’t necessarily a bad thing … but could rather be an aspect of our wisdom-heart/mind yearning for expression, i.e. our deepest desire for Truth, for liberation from samsaric perception.
I know the Zennies have a very different way of talking about this; but in the Tibetan lineages I’m familiar with, there is the understanding that our so-called “ordinary” perception is, in most cases (until we’re clearly on the Buddhist path), highly distorted. In fact it wouldn’t necessarily be an exaggeration to say that our habitual samsaric perception of our “selves” and the “external world” is hugely hallucinatory — the mother of all “supernatural” or “altered” states. For this reason, “clarifying perception” — realigning our perception with Reality — is a central aspect of many Tibetan paths.
Sometimes, when I’ve had a few too many kombuchas, I wonder if it might not be useful to institute something like Samsaraholics Anonymous: hello, my name is blahblah, and I am addicted to suffering ….
Mila: thank you! I do have a teacher that I have formally taken as my teacher… I have over the years been very involved in the temple and at times really not involved (but I have always been training… I seriously asked the question “what is this we are in the midst of” at age 18 upon my good friends death … after many years of different journeys in religion (all the while reading some Buddhist works that struck a wonderful chord… i decided to begin to practice… that opened many things … I wanted (probably still want) some ‘experience’ … I am glad though that I haven’t seen things or heard things or I would have grasped on and gotten stuck… as it is I still have a tendency to ‘want’ to ‘find’ soem ultimate understanding that would allow me to help others. When i first began training I wanted to ‘teach’ everyone … later I found out my ‘teaching’ could be harmful too.. so i decided to shut up (as much as possible) and do the work and let what develops come… and so I sit … and my ego (or self or whatever you want to call it) manifests its greedy tendencies and when I’m willing I work through it .. when unwilling I yell sometimes… I appreiciate the words you’ve shared with me … I can sense a tenderness of spirit.. Samsaraholics indeed!
Gashho
Signs of practice can be very important. “Nyam” are vague wishy-washy experiences that don’t add up to much. Of course true signs of practice are clarity, deep devotion, deep clear compassion and so forth. Clairvoyance etc. could be useful but very easily be a trap to a practicioner with impure motivations, as most except for great masters are. Hallucinatory experiences of course are a complete waste of time, and this is also why I think hallucinatory drugs are a complete waste of mind, causing heavy confusion instead of clear awareness.
As regards the act of seeking: I don’t think there is anything at all wrong with seeking. First, something seems a little off and disatisfactory, and you seek a solution. This leads you to perhaps study philosophy and religion, and you seek a path to freedom. Then you seek a practice and a teacher thereof. The only time it is necessary to ‘not-seek’ is at the highest levels of meditation where any kind of conceptual activity blocks direct awareness of ultimate reality. Before that it is fine to seek to your heart’s content. Note: It is important at all levels of meditation to not seek “experiences”, but if they happen naturally, then no problem.