TMPhilosophersNotesMore Wisdom in Less Time

Brian Johnson’s

“There is a transcendent awareness, a Big Mind, a Big Heart, present and readily accessible to each and every one of us. When we realize it, we see it is the source of true peace, happiness, satisfaction, courage and joy. And yet, we don’t know how to access it, we don’t know how to bring it into our awareness. We don’t know how to manifest it or embody it.

For the past thirty-six years, I have been searching for a way to assist people to access this awareness. In June 1999, after much study and difficulty, I finally found a simple, effective way which I have been exploring and refining since then. I call it the Big Mind/Big Heart process, or simply, Big Mind.”

~ Zen Master Dennis Genpo Merzel from Big Mind · Big Heart

Zen Master Dennis Genpo Merzel. Also known as Genpo Roshi.

I was first introduced to him and his incredible Big Mind process during a week-long event produced by the Integral Institute in Boulder, Colorado a few years ago. It was stunning how easily and quickly Genpo was able to bring us through his process to get a glimpse of the higher thresholds of consciousness known as Big Mind.

In this book, he playfully and brilliantly articulates his wisdom while presenting the Big Mind process—a process that integrates Zen Buddhism with Voice Dialogue.

You’ll need to get the book to get a feel for the Big Mind process (and I HIGHLY recommend you do!!!). For now, let’s explore a handful of my favorite Big Ideas that you can immediately apply to your life.

“Do we need the self? Yes, absolutely. Do we need to be identified with it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Absolutely not. Because when we’re identified with the self, as the self, we live in fear, we live in anxiety, we live in stress, we live in suffering. When we’re able to identify with that which has no boundaries, with Big Mind—it’s a name, you could call it many things, universal consciousness or whatever—when we’re no longer identified with the self, fear doesn’t come up. When we identify with that which is ungraspable, that which is unnameable, then there is absolutely no fear. We live in fearlessness.”

RIGHT VIEW“So we end up with what the Buddha taught in his first teaching, which is called the Eightfold Path, when he said, ‘have Right View.’ Right View is having no particular, fixed view, which means seeing that all views are limited, that no particular view is the only view. They’re all restricted, they’re all limited, they’re all fragmented. Actually the right view is no view.”

Right View.

Reminds me of a story S.N. Goenka (well, a recording of him anyway :) shared during the 10-day Vipassana course I attended.

Big Mind · Big HeartFinding Your WayBY DENNIS GENPO MERZEL · BIG MIND PUBLISHING © 2007 · 189 PAGES

THE BIG IDEASRight ViewAnd some blind doods.

A MaseratiStuck in first gear.

Dukkha& Sukkha.

The Temple Without walls.

A Dysfunctional Co.The perfect metaphor.

Integrated CompassionFeminine/Masculine.

IntegratedFree-Functioning Human.

Great GratitudeAnd appreciation.

The True SelfTruly transcendent.

Can You Imagine?And will you help create?

1 PhilosophersNotes | Big Mind · Big Heart

“In reality, there are an infinite number of

perspectives, but we act as if there were only one.”

~ Genpo Roshi

Imagine six blind guys. They’ve never seen an elephant before and are each touching a different part of the big ol’ animal describing what an elephant is.

The first blind man grabs the tail and says the elephant is like a rope. The second one grabs the leg and is certain the elephant is like a pillar while the third touches the trunk and thinks the elephant is like a tree branch. The others go for different parts and have different perspectives (the back is like a throne; the tusk is like a spear; the ear is like a hand fan).

Now, what’s fascinating is that they’re all *100%* sure they’re *100%* right and can’t understand how someone else can have such a wildly different understanding of something that is SO obvious to them!

Enter: the limitation of thinking your perspective is the absolute truth. :)

Ken Wilber likes to talk about “partial truths” and reminds us that no one is smart enough to be either 100% right OR 100% wrong. There’s always a partial truth to a perspective—no matter how limited. AND, there’s always a partial limitation to a truth, no matter how profound.

We get in trouble when we think our perspective is 100% right.

Genpo tells us: “That is why from the beginning it’s really important that you learn to shift perspectives. That alone is going to help tremendously in your life. Just imagine the next time you get into an argument with your partner or spouse, and you are able to let go of your view and open up to the possibility that there might just be another perspective on the situation—her view, or his view. The moment you do that, it sets you free.”

Powerful stuff.

Try it out the next time you find yourself in an argument with someone—whether it’s at work or at home. Odds are the tension comes from you getting locked into your perspective and the moment you can create a little more spaciousness and see the possibility of the other’s perspective you just took a HUGE leap forward.

The Big Mind process is all about being able to do that more and more consistently and, as a result, create more and more love, compassion and all that’s good in your life.

A MASERATI STUCK IN FIRST GEAR“Being able to shift perspectives is like having a freely functioning vehicle. If a car is stuck in any gear, what you’ve got is a dysfunctional car. Even if it’s a Maserati, if you’re stuck in first gear, or you’re stuck in reverse, no matter what gear you’re stuck in, it’s dysfunctional. But the moment you have fluidity and movement and you’re able to shift up or down or into reverse, or whatever you need to do, you’ve got a functional vehicle.”

That’s awesome.

Imagine your ideal car. It looks soooo beautiful on display. You buy it. And… It’s stuck in reverse.

Hah!

Now imagine your life.

Are you stuck in reverse? Always looking backwards? Stuck in 1st, never willing to take a risk? Or maybe stuck in 5th, never able to slow down?

As Genpo says, it doesn’t matter what gear you’re stuck in, if you can’t shift as life demands, your car is dysfunctional. Same with our lives.

Again, this is what the Big Mind process is all about: not getting “stuck.”

(And, while we’re on the subject of dysfunctional cars, how about some Anthony de Mello mojo? (See Notes on his great book Awareness for more): “You’re much more energetic, much more

2 PhilosophersNotes | Big Mind · Big Heart

“We see the world in a dysfunctional way and because of that

we suffer.”~ Genpo Roshi

alive. People think that if they had no cravings, they’d be like deadwood. But in fact they’d lose their tension. Get rid of your fear of failure, your tensions about succeeding, you will be

yourself. Relaxed. You wouldn’t be driving with your brakes on. That’s what would happen.”

DUKKHA & SUKKHA“What we do naturally is we cling, we grasp, we hold on to. We are not functioning freely, not free, because we’re stuck. Buddha observed this tendency and gave it a name. He said when the mind is stuck, you’re in dukkha (usually translated from the Sanskrit as suffering). Dukkha literally means a wheel whose hub doesn’t move. So what kind of a wheel do you have? A useless, dysfunctional wheel. What good is a wheel if it doesn’t move?

What Buddha discovered and taught was to free up the wheel. He called it sukkha, a liberated wheel, a freed-up wheel. That means liberation, nirvana.”

Dukkha.

It’s the Sanskrit word Buddha uses in the first of The Four Noble Truths: “Life is dukkha.”

As Genpo tells us, the word is usually translated as “suffering” but literally means a wheel whose hub doesn’t move—a wheel that’s stuck!

We’re on a roll imagining stuff in this Note, so imagine that: a wheel whose hub doesn’t move! It’s *totally* stuck. THAT is what the Buddha used to describe suffering.

Don’t want to suffer? Sweet. Let your wheel move. Experience sukkha. Flow with life. Have the spaciousness to hold multiple perspectives. Live from Big Mind.

THE TEMPLE WITHOUT WALLS“We’re at the point in our evolution that we all have to become conscious. This is a time of revolution. There’s no holding back. So I’m about tearing down the monastery walls and seeing the whole world as the monastery, as the practice, as the spiritual temple. What we’re all working on is this very being, this very life. This is the temple, it has no walls.”

Amen. (Or, whatever the Buddhist equivalent is! :)

This is amazing: “I’m about tearing down the monastery walls and seeing the whole world as the monastery, as the practice, as the spiritual temple.”

As we discuss again and again in these Notes, our LIFE is our classroom. Rather than wait for the next weekend workshop or silent meditation retreat to *really* get our practice on, let’s make EVERY moment an opportunity to expand.

In his great book, Mastery (see Notes), George Leonard reminds us: “Could all of us reclaim lost hours of our lives by making everything—the commonplace along with the extraordinary—a part of our practice?”

And, Confucius reminds us: “Even when walking in the company of two other men, I am bound to be able to learn from them. The good points of the one I copy; the bad points of the other I correct in myself.”

As Genpo says, this is the time for a revolution. There’s no holding back.

How can you make more of the mundane moments a part of your practice?

The opportunities are limitless—from being more mindful as you’re washing the dishes or putting a sock in the hamper to when you’re driving in traffic on the way to work. Got a long commute? Perhaps you can turn off the radio and focus on breathing deeply. And, if you get pissy/impatient while sitting in traffic, *definitely* look to alchemize that energy into some more positive. Perhaps

3PhilosophersNotes | Big Mind · Big Heart

“All the practices—sitting, Big Mind, and so on—are skillful means, all for

the purpose of building character, consciousness,

and awareness so that our functioning is truly

coming from wisdom and compassion.”

~ Genpo Roshi

“A lot of this book is written with the hope of helping people move into

the transcendent and then beyond the transcendent, to embrace it and not be

attached to either the dualistic or the non-dualistic perspective.”

~ Genpo Roshi

each time an impulse to curse the traffic arises you can mentally run through all the people you have to thank for even having the opportunity to be stuck in traffic when it wasn’t too long ago you would’ve been on a horse… and the last time I checked they didn’t have AC. :)

Send silent appreciations as you imagine the person who sold you the car, the people who put it together, the people who created each piece before they got assembled, the people who worked with the raw materials, the people who made the street you’re driving on, and, perhaps, you can give a shout out to the Big Guy in the Sky who made ALL THAT?!?

Back to Genpo: “So I’m about tearing down the monastery walls and seeing the whole world as the monastery, as the practice, as the spiritual temple.”

Begs the question: What can YOU do to embody this (VERY!) Big Idea in your life today?

A DYSFUNCTIONAL COMPANY“Each of us has innumerable voices, or aspects, within us. To get a clearer picture of how they operate, think of yourself for a moment as a large corporation with many, many employees. How many? Nobody knows. It’s a little bizarre. We went out and randomly hired all these folks for our company, and we neglected to tell them what their jobs were. We also neglected to tell them their titles or job descriptions. If that weren’t bad enough, we didn’t even tell them who they work for, what the name of the company is, and who the boss is. Then we said, go to work. Now what kind of company is that?”

Can you picture that?!? Yikes!

As Genpo says: “A company where nobody knows their job title, job description, what they’re supposed to be doing, is going to be a company in suffering, in shambles.”

And, so is a human being with so many voices running around all out of control, eh?

Enter the Big Mind process.

Genpo continues: “Now what we’re going to do is interview each employee of the company, not all of them, but one at a time, we’ll do a limited number of key employees. We’ll interview each of them, we’ll get their perspective on what they do, and we’ll clarify their job title and their job description. We’ll tell them this is what we want them to do for the company because this is what they were hired to do. Eventually we’ll introduce them to the CEO of the company.”

Brilliant.

That’s the Big Mind process. Genpo basically leads us through a systematic dialogue with a number of our “key employees” to get a sense of who they are, what they do and what’s important to them while we clarify their roles and create a healthy org chart where everyone knows who does what and who’s in charge!

And, here’s what we discover through that process: “My understanding is that every aspect of the self, every voice, has its own innate wisdom; that if we would simply allow every voice to be heard, to be appreciated, and to be honored, we as human beings would live a much healthier, happier and joyful life; that by denying or suppressing any aspect we are creating a problem both for the self and for others.”

INTEGRATED FEMININE/MASCULINE COMPASSION“I am always compassionate, but sometimes in a very feminine, gentle way, nurturing and supportive, and sometimes in a very masculine way, ruthless and decisive. But I always have in my arsenal what is necessary to get the job done. I am totally integrated. There’s no need to become integrated; I am Integrated Feminine/Masculine Compassion. Another name for me is Big Heart.”

4 PhilosophersNotes | Big Mind · Big Heart

“If a voice has been disowned, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It continues to function, but covertly,

not in a healthy way.”~ Genpo Roshi

“I remember that clinging creates suffering, and not

to be attached even to non attachement.”

~ Genpo Roshi

That quote is from the interview Genpo does with a hypothetical Voice of Yin/Yang Compassion, also know as: Integrated Masculine and Feminine Compassion. (The second half of the book is basically Genpo walking us through the “employee” interviews—where we get introduced to a range of “Voices” within our heads. REALLY powerful stuff.)

So, Integrated Masculine and Feminine Compassion. This is a *really* Big Idea.

I was first introduced to it by Diane Hamilton (one of Genpo’s senior students and a leading Zen teacher) at a weekend Integral Institute workshop in Los Angeles. She told us a story about horses to bring the point home.

Imagine a female horse (a mare) giving birth to a little baby horse (a foal). Now, this foal isn’t too healthy. It’s struggling to get up and stand upright—a very important event for a newborn horse. The momma horse is working and working to support the little guy and a few other female horses cruise over to help out as well.

Nothing seems to be helping, though.

This goes on for awhile when, suddenly, a stallion appears, breaks through the mares, picks the little foal up in his mouth, carries him to the edge of the meadow and slams him into the ground—ending his life.

That’s feminine and masculine compassion.

One is nurturing and supportive. The other is ruthless and decisive. BOTH (!!!) are essential for an integrated compassion.

In fact, if you’re stuck in feminine compassion, many great teachers like Pema Chodron and Trungpa Rinpoche and Ken Wilber, will say you’ve got “Idiot Compassion.”

It’s kinda like the Maserati that’s stuck in first gear. We’ve gotta be able to hold BOTH aspects of compassion to have a truly integrated perspective. Make sense?

INTEGRATED FREE-FUNCTIONING HUMAN BEING“I include all the aspects of the self, all the dualistic voices and Big Mind, the non-dual, no-self, and I transcend them. I am also known as the Master, or the Unique Self. I am absolutely unique, there is no one else in the entire world exactly like me. I have no need to prove anything or to be special since I am special and unique to begin with.

I am also known as the natural self or ordinary mind. I do not need to put on airs or a façade. I am natural and unassuming. I am unconditionally joyful. My happiness is not dependent on conditions or circumstances. I am one with whatever feeling or emotion comes up. I am the mind of Great Joy and the mind of Great Appreciation and Gratitude.”

That’s the Voice of The Integrated Free-Functioning Human Being.

Me likes.

GREAT GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION“That’s the beautiful thing, that’s the secret: to want what you get rather than trying to get what you want, because that seems like a never-ending battle, and a losing battle at that. We seem to always get what we need, though. So when we want what we get, it’s really like wanting what we need.”

That’s the Voice of Great Gratitude and Appreciation.

Love it.

5PhilosophersNotes | Big Mind · Big Heart

“So if we look at progress, or evolution, or we look at accomplishment in our life, the key is to be continually

moving on, expanding and growing, clarifying,

developing and maturing. The opposite would be getting stuck, staying stuck, so there’s no maturing, no

developing, no accomplishing, no movement.”

~ Genpo Roshi

THE TRUE SELF“I am the True Self. In other words, I am the one that truly transcends. The Non-Dual is still not truly transcendent because somehow it sees itself as better or greater than the dual, which is still very dualistic.”

That’s the Voice of the True Self. The way Genpo describes the “True Self” is remarkable and he’s got a *brilliant* discussion on not getting “stuck on absolute.”

As he says in the Voice of the True Self: “I embrace desires and seeking and fear and distinctions. I embrace them all but I am not bound by them, I’m not attached to them. I can have a desire, and drop the desire if it’s not fulfilled… I don’t get stuck anywhere.”

CAN YOU IMAGINE?“Can you imagine a world where everybody was free, happy and joyful, where everybody came from a place of generosity and giving freely without any strings attached? Can you just imagine this world? It’s almost impossible to imagine, it would be such a different place.

Well, that’s our work. That’s what we’re here to do. That’s what this book is all about. If enough of us can get to that level of consciousness, I believe the whole planet, would be transformed.”

That’s the Voice of Generosity.

What better way to end this Note than with that beautiful wisdom, eh?

Here’s to imagining (and consciously playing our role in creating!) a beautiful world “where everybody was free, happy and joyful, where everybody came from a place of generosity and giving freely without any strings attached.”

If you liked this Note, you’ll probably like…

Ken Wilber

Thresholds of the Mind

The Dhammapada

Awareness

Mastery

The Analects of Confucius

About the Author of “Big Mind · Big Heart”GENPO ROSHI

Dennis Genpo Merzel Roshi is a revolutionary in the tradition of the old Zen Masters who so embodied Buddhist teaching that they were able to revitalize and transform it for their own day and age. As Buddhism moved from India to China to Japan and other Asian cultures, it found unique expression in each culture that made its fundamental teachings resonate for a new time and place. Genpo Roshi is working to transmit the essence of the Buddha’s teachings in a way that is readily accessible to Westerners and relevant to our everyday life. (from BigMind.org where you can learn more!)

About the Author of This NoteBRIAN JOHNSON

Brian Johnson is a lover of wisdom (aka a “Philosopher”) and a passionate student of life who’s committed to inspiring and empowering millions of people to live their greatest lives as he studies, embodies and shares the universal truths of optimal living. He harts his job.

Brian Johnson,Chief Philosopher

6 PhilosophersNotes | Big Mind · Big Heart