The Five Eyes

In the Buddhism class I attended last Sunday, we learned about “The Five Eyes”, which is five ways you can view the world.

(1) Physical Eye = This is literally what we see through our eyes when we look around – objects, people, buildings, trees, etc. The physical eye is limited to our eyesight and any obstacles that block our view. For example, if you are looking out the window of a building, you can see the street below, the people walking on the street, maybe some cars and some other buildings, but that’s it.

(2) Heavenly Eye = We can literally see more with the heavenly eye than with the physical eye through meditation and instruments (such as microscopes and telescopes). To get a sense of what this means, check out the slide show at http://www.slideshare.net/amriltg/power-of-10-from-micro-to-macro-cosmos.

Disintegration means taking things apart and finding that there’s no true essence. Imagine that you are holding a marker in  your hand. The marker is made of various components (the cap, the ink, etc.) and as you continue to take it apart, you eventually get to the point where it’s just atoms.

Integration is the process of grouping things, which also always results in emptiness. (The concept of emptiness is hard to understand and explain – more on that in a future blog post.)

Finally, penetration (using instruments) or meditation allows us to recognize that we see all things based on how we look at them.

(4) Dharma Eye = With the wisdom eye, we get attached to emptiness. With the Dharma eye, we see the emptiness but understand that everything is still “real”. You also have compassion because you see people suffering out of ignorance and self/ego.

(5) Buddha Eye = This is enlightenment – how the Buddha would see things. There are no dualities; no subject or object; there is no eye. Everything is one. There is infinite infinity, totality and all inclusiveness. There is no time – everything is instantaneous and spontaneous.

These are hard concepts to grasp, I know, and I’m sure the notes I took in class are missing a lot. If you have any additional thoughts, please share!

How I ended up in a Buddhism class

Yesterday, I went to my first class to learn about Buddhism. The little I know about it is that it’s a philosophy (a way of life) and not a religion, and that the Dalai Lama practices it. That was the extent of my knowledge. After the 90 minute class (the topic was “The Five Eyes”- more on that in another post), I was fascinated by the ways in which Buddhism brings together philosophy, morality, psychology and science.

I decided to create this blog to chronicle my journey and share with you what I learn as I learn it. I welcome your comments, whether you are new to Buddhism like me or have been studying it for a while.

Let me step back for a moment and explain how I ended up in the Buddhist class.

For a while now, I’ve been sensing a change in the way I view the world and myself in it. I have never been religious or spiritual, yet I think often about why we are here, what is our purpose, and how can we make others’ lives better.

I think this began when I started learning more about food – where our food comes from and how what we put into our bodies is directly related to our well-being and understanding of how we fit into the greater earth.

Initially, I was looking for an eating plan that would give me more energy. I happened to stumble across a book called “Eat Clean” in the bookstore when I was browsing one day, and I was intrigued.

As I began to examine ingredient lists in pre-packaged foods and sought to buy organic and local, I also stopped to think about where our animal protein comes from (beef, chicken, pork) and how it makes it to our tables (sadly, with the prevalence of “factory farming”, it’s not a pleasant thought).

After watching the documentaries “Food, Inc.” (about factory farming) and “The Cove” (about the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan), I became convinced that I needed to live my life differently. I needed to stop being on auto-pilot (buying whatever food is on the shelf at the grocery store just because it’s there; using plastic bags simply because they are available; purchasing disposable items even though renewable alternatives may be available).

Instead, I needed to start focusing on the moment – appreciating and respecting nature and understanding my place within it.

So, that’s where the Buddhist class came in. I knew that Buddhism emphasized “being present” and living in the moment, so I thought it could provide me with a framework for what I was already feeling. And, from what I learned yesterday, it sounds like it will. In my next post, I’ll share with you what I learned about The Five Eyes.

If you are also new to Buddhism, here are some links I found that may be useful:

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm

http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/buddhasresume.html