Donna Quesada. Buddhism: Emptiness. (Who Am I?) 2/5 — Transcript

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1. 0:00I was thinking about that you know it
2. 0:02reminds me of that question that kids
3. 0:04love to ask why is the sky blue we take
4. 0:09the blue sky for granted for many years
5. 0:11it's just the way it is it's just the
6. 0:15way the world is the sky is blue and
7. 0:17then one day and I actually asked this
8. 0:19question to my dad and I was lucky
9. 0:21because he happens to be a scientist and
10. 0:22could answer it and I suppose I don't
11. 0:26remember exactly what he said then but I
12. 0:28trust that he described the way the long
13. 0:30wavelengths passed through the
14. 0:32atmosphere and so the red goes right
15. 0:35through but the short wavelengths lose
16. 0:37scattered everywhere and so your eye
17. 0:40picks up nothing but the blue blue
18. 0:42everywhere scattered all around we've
19. 0:47just looked more deeply at something
20. 0:50that we took for granted for so many
21. 0:53years we see it differently now the real
22. 0:58point the Buddhist point is that we see
23. 1:01it not as this thing but as this event
24. 1:08that depends for its existence on a
25. 1:11confluence a coming together of all
26. 1:14kinds of other things that are really
27. 1:16events when you look more closely like
28. 1:19the angle of the Sun for when the earth
29. 1:23turns and the Sun from our way of
30. 1:25looking at things gets lower that sky
31. 1:27won't be blue anymore and so that blue
32. 1:31sky depends
33. 1:34it depends on the atmosphere it is a
34. 1:37certain density in our world and a host
35. 1:40of other things that people like my dad
36. 1:43could probably explained it asking Who
37. 1:49am I
38. 1:50shows us that we aren't really to say
39. 1:54we are dependent on hence dependent
40. 1:58origination see it's going to start to
41. 2:00make more sense to you now why the
42. 2:01Buddhist philosophers use this term
43. 2:03dependent origination I originated
44. 2:05dependent on all of these other causes
45. 2:09like a blue sky Who am I
46. 2:18let's look at that question in a similar
47. 2:21way I think the first place do we look
48. 2:24especially in this culture is our bodies
49. 2:27it's the most tangible it's the material
50. 2:30it's the most obvious place to start is
51. 2:34that Who I am is that my identity oh
52. 2:36well you know in Los Angeles yeah just
53. 2:40turn on the TV you can have a bikini
54. 2:42body in eight days and we do identify
55. 2:44ourselves very much by our physical
56. 2:47beings were very body conscious in this
57. 2:50culture but I think that the more
58. 2:52thoughtful among us realize that our
59. 2:56identity is not our bodies I mean anyway
60. 3:01our bodies will change whether we want
61. 3:03them to or not
62. 3:04as we age they'll change in ways we
63. 3:09don't really prefer but they will anyway
64. 3:12right and we keep looking we're looking
65. 3:18at the tangible what's the first thing
66. 3:20you do when you introduce yourself to
67. 3:21somebody
68. 3:23hi I'm Donna nice to meet you you state
69. 3:26your name and so we identified very much
70. 3:33with our names as our form of identity
71. 3:37that thing that represents us but it
72. 3:41doesn't take much to realize
73. 3:43but even that might change if you're a
74. 3:47woman you might get married to change
75. 3:48your name even if you're not a woman
76. 3:51if you have immigrant grandparents like
77. 3:53I do chances are they change their name
78. 3:56when they enter and pass through Ellis
79. 3:58Island and the guards couldn't spell all
80. 4:02those European names and so they just
81. 4:04picked a new one and so we changed your
82. 4:09names
83. 4:10the most we were looking at take a
84. 4:12Dharma name the ascetics throw a later
85. 4:17name along with every other concept of
86. 4:19the self
87. 4:20you may take mine the life of a
88. 4:22renunciant so we keep looking well who I
89. 4:25Who am I then Who am I that's what we're
90. 4:27doing we're looking at that question Who
91. 4:28am I and we get into the more subtle
92. 4:32okay well my emotions we have take pride
93. 4:38even in our vices all I'm an angry man
94. 4:41I'm just impatient that's the way I am
95. 4:42and the Zen master would say show me
96. 4:44that anger the Masters of cheeky that
97. 4:49way
98. 4:55even those emotions that I take pride
99. 4:58and that's me that's how I am they
100. 5:02change you're mad you're angry at
101. 5:05something and someone says the magic
102. 5:07words and next thing you know you're
103. 5:09laughing about it right who among us
104. 5:11hasn't experienced that where did the
105. 5:13anger go and so we keep looking we keep
106. 5:17looking we keep looking okay my memory
107. 5:21then that's the thing that allowed you
108. 5:23to add answer the question I asked you a
109. 5:25few minutes ago
110. 5:26what was the most important thing to you
111. 5:28when you were a kid it's that memory
112. 5:30that connects you up with your past
113. 5:32it's that thread of continuity that
114. 5:36thing that makes you you your memories
115. 5:39to find who you are what you think about
116. 5:40yourself the things that were important
117. 5:43to you the family that is still
118. 5:44important to you but you know what I can
119. 5:51pull the rug out from under your feet go
120. 5:53to because memory is a fickle thing get
121. 5:56two people together and look at the
122. 5:58different versions of the story
123. 6:02that's why I wouldn't want to be a
124. 6:04lawyer in court for two weeks trying to
125. 6:06get to the bottom of it but you know
126. 6:07it's because memory is subject to the
127. 6:11way we interpreted an event and there is
128. 6:14no way you can take in everything there
129. 6:16is to take in the senses simply can't
130. 6:18manage all of the information it's why
131. 6:21when you see a movie the second time
132. 6:23this happened to me once I was watching
133. 6:26waking life and I used to show this in
134. 6:27my intro class and Linda have to sing
135. 6:30the movie ten times I said does that
136. 6:38ever happen to you
137. 6:39want you moving a second time the third
138. 6:40time - what's up you see something new
139. 6:42every single time why is that because
140. 6:44the first time this is the first - five
141. 6:47times
142. 6:48who knows how many times this can go on
143. 6:50you simply cannot take everything in
144. 6:54it's not only that it's that we're
145. 6:57distracted and it's not only that it's
146. 7:00that our capacity at any given moment is
147. 7:03limited it's subject to our maturity
148. 7:05level to our ability to understand a
149. 7:07certain thing the information being
150. 7:10presented to us we take in what we can
151. 7:14based on all of those things and when we
152. 7:17look back we remember a very limited
153. 7:20perspective and there's time also which
154. 7:24is diminish the emotions that were
155. 7:26connected up with that event those
156. 7:29emotions to store it as well
157. 7:31so what is this that we remember it's as
158. 7:34if we're creating the very past that we
159. 7:36remember and so memory is very selective
160. 7:40we might say stay with me the original
161. 7:44question is Who am I and we found out
162. 7:47that everything we look at just really
163. 7:49work it's all changeable and we keep
164. 7:53looking we keep looking and so we get to
165. 7:55consciousness itself that bedrock of
166. 7:57things that thing that lets us perceive
167. 7:59in the first
168. 8:00place that thing that gives us awareness
169. 8:02at all to be able to experience the
170. 8:06world and it too bit too is changeable
171. 8:17it too is dependent dependent on we've
172. 8:21got a whole theme going here see why
173. 8:23they call it dependent origination
174. 8:24because consciousness too is wholly and
175. 8:28entirely dependent on an infinite number
176. 8:31of other things inside of you and
177. 8:33outside of you you're fading in and out
178. 8:36right here some of you are half asleep I
179. 8:43can see it I can see it but you know
180. 8:45that's the way we are we all do it
181. 8:47we all do it our attention waxes and
182. 8:50wanes depending on our interests you
183. 8:53know I start traveling through the
184. 8:57Himalayas anytime somebody starts
185. 8:58talking about auto parts or sports or
186. 9:00something there she goes you count me
187. 9:04out but you start talking about um you
188. 9:08know the stuff I'm into chick knob on
189. 9:13all the things I think are just great
190. 9:16and Oh what did you say could you know
191. 9:18real do that
192. 9:24it's dependent on the food you eat you
193. 9:28feel sleepy if you don't eat a balanced
194. 9:30breakfast mom was right you know
195. 9:36or the Yogi's would take it further if
196. 9:40you don't know how to manage your energy
197. 9:41and you haven't evolved your
198. 9:43consciousness so that you can sustain it
199. 9:48more reliably and not be so subject to
200. 9:51all of those distractions inside and out
201. 9:53so that you can get past all of those
202. 9:56things you still see that it's variable
203. 9:59even still it's variable it's dependent
204. 10:03on your breath a few minutes go into a
205. 10:07deep breath did you notice a difference
206. 10:09it really does pull you in but if you
207. 10:13breathe too deeply all the time there's
208. 10:15a connection there when you're nervous
209. 10:17or angry you're breathing fast you see
210. 10:21it you're very breathy when you have
211. 10:23stage fright but when you're relaxed you
212. 10:27take fewer breaths per moment
213. 10:31and you can manipulate that by taking
214. 10:35charge of your breath you affect your
215. 10:38state of being you affect your very
216. 10:39consciousness by breathing deeply by
217. 10:44working with the breath and myriad ways
218. 10:47you become more conscious more alert
219. 10:50better able to sustain your presence
220. 10:53your consciousness is more dependable
221. 11:02so what's the conclusion to be drawn
222. 11:05here with regard that question let's
223. 11:07stay on point
224. 11:08Who am I was the question what is the
225. 11:10point to be drawn here am I just this
226. 11:12changeable thing that's not really a
227. 11:14thing and everything I think defines me
228. 11:18turns out to be just one more changeable
229. 11:21thing more like a systems anything more
230. 11:26like a verb than a noun we can put it
231. 11:28that way this thing in action this
232. 11:31confluence of events completely
233. 11:33dependent on other events for its
234. 11:35existence like my consciousness itself
235. 11:38well the Buddhist answer would say yes
236. 11:46because the fact of change is the
237. 11:49Buddhist answer but it doesn't want you
238. 11:53to take its word for it
239. 11:54it wants you to see for yourself observe
240. 11:58for yourself because remember the power
241. 12:01is in the asking not in the answering
242. 12:03when you observe for yourself you employ
243. 12:07the Buddhist tool of mindfulness we saw
244. 12:13that yoga gave us many tools for
245. 12:16elevating our consciousness depending
246. 12:18less on the material for sustenance here
247. 12:24the tool were pointing to is that
248. 12:26seventh step of the Eightfold Path we'll
249. 12:29look at that next week as part of the
250. 12:31Four Noble Truths develop for this day
251. 12:37never mind for now mindfulness is that
252. 12:39key it's the tool that Buddhism gives us
253. 12:43to do the looking to do the exploring
254. 12:46the observing to see for yourself
255. 12:51to look at the question for yourself Who
256. 12:54am I
257. 12:55once you look you've started your
258. 12:58meditation you're employing mindfulness
259. 13:04and you see that even my consciousness
260. 13:07is this buzzing blend of elements
261. 13:10dependent on the water I drink the air
262. 13:13that I breathe even the sunshine my
263. 13:17interest what I've eaten what I haven't
264. 13:20eaten maybe how much you've slept maybe
265. 13:23you're very sleepy and it's hard to stay
266. 13:25present at all