AWARE: Opening to the Unhindered Mind

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Kodo explores the concept of impermanence as it relates to love, loss, and appreciation through the Portuguese word saudade – the inseparable feelings of sorrow and joy that arise from loss, and the Japanese phrase mono no aware, the slender sadness, or the inseparability of beauty and impermanence. Kodo shares his own recent encounter with saudade and aware in the uncertain moments with Roshi Joan before her heart surgery just two days prior. Kodo invites us to imagine saying goodbye to someone we love, asking ourselves “what if this might really be the last time I’m with them?” Through relatable musings about our “techno-capitalist regime that’s built to make money by harvesting your attention” and reflecting on amygdala-tapping algorithms that make it possible, Kodo makes the point that “these forms of media are really unhappy-making at the very least. And at their most harmful, they’re extremely destructive.” Weaving through the attention markets of modern capitalism and ancient Buddhist canon, Kodo questions how we should really take in the teachings of non-attachment. Pulling from the Pali Maha Parinibbāna Sutta to see how attachment was expressed at the time of Buddha’s death, Kodo reads “the arhats mindful and clearly comprehending, reflected in this way: Impermanent are all compounded things. How could this be otherwise?” adding for comedic effect: “And they were chill.” Kodo comments: “How does that strike you? I mean, a little odd, isn’t it? …Is that why we’re practicing, so that when our most cherished loved one dies, we can be like, “everything is impermanent?” I don’t think so.” Kodo instead advocates for sincere engagement with our circumstances, quoting Gary Shishn Wick’s commentary on case 58 of the Book of Equanimity: “…Zen is not about killing all feelings and becoming anesthetized or numb to pain and fear. Zen is about being free to scream loudly and fully when it is time to scream; when it is time to scream we scream. When it is time to laugh we laugh…” Rather than numbing ourselves to life’s fragility, Kodo invites us to let the bittersweet recognition of impermanence awaken us to the preciousness of each moment we share.