Congratulations to all of us on one year of the ACI-Cape Ann newsletter - Exploring the Path.

 

Exploring the Path has provided a forum to feel the warmth and connectedness of our community, helpful dharma articles, news about current activities and events, and more, for its first year.

 

We can all rejoice in the goodness of the many newsletter staff who work tirelessly and happily on each issue as well as all of us contributors who make it the beautiful offering that it is.

 

Thank you all and let's dedicate the goodness of one successfully completing our first    year of Exploring the Path to the full Awakening and happiness of all living creatures.

   

All love,

Jesse

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Those Lying Eyes: How Neuroscience can help you Grasp Reality

"Rather than seeing things as they are, we superimpose upon ourselves-and on things around us-a false existence, a self-existence or essential reality that actually does not exist at all." ¹ In everyday life we seem to see by taking in visual data from the outside, processing it, and then deriving meaning. Our eyes tell us that things exist 'out there" for us to see. But Buddhist philosophy proposes instead that we develop categories and constructs in our minds, and looking through this veil or filter, we project our world and then believe that our projections are the way things really are. To gain a clearer understanding of projection as filter, we turn to what seems an unlikely source: the neurobiology of vision.

The current research on vision aligns with Buddhist understandings. Our visual system actually lies to us-in the interest of our own survival. We need our senses to function, but that doesn't mean we should trust them. If we want to develop insight into the true nature of things, we have to train our minds to counteract the workings of biology. But just as it is essential to understand our delusions before we can free ourselves of them, understanding how our vision misrepresents the world can inform our search for reality in meditation. It's good to know what we're up against!

In this three-part article, we will explain specific ways that the visual system distorts conventional reality, and propose how this knowledge can help develop deeper understanding of ultimate reality through meditation practice.

The Limits of Vision

As you read this, your brain is being bombarded by a stream of complex, diverse, and constantly changing visual stimuli (e.g. changes in intensity, motion, shape, color). These stimuli are captured by special receptors on the retina of the eye and used by the brain to construct a coherent, subjectively meaningful (but inaccurate) "reality." The brain must contend with an overwhelming amount of visual information from moment to moment. And because of energy limits, the brain cannot process more than a small fraction of the available information. To function, it is optimized to be incredibly energy-efficient.

Our need for information is checked only by the brain's need to conserve energy. As a result, the visual system constructs its reality by a process of sampling and abstraction, in which it takes snapshots, and extracts patterns from collections of snapshots. These patterns become categories that impose themselves on future perception. The patterns are actually neural pathways in the brain that are created and reinforced by habitual repetition.

In other words, the visual system consists of shortcuts or workarounds that reduce demand and make it feasible for us to see, even as it obscures our ability to understand the nature of reality. To discipline the mind is to break old neural pathways with new habits and to develop new patterns that come from knowledge, understanding, and mind training (meditation). To develop awareness and control over our perception and come ever closer to perceiving emptiness, it is good to know what kinds of shortcuts and distortions our brains are presenting.

In the first of this three-part article, we address the first of the ways in which our visual/brain/neural system misrepresents reality:

Two Visual and Attention Systems

One way the brain handles the large amount of visual data is by separating vision into two overlapping but distinct systems: the center and the periphery. These areas provide complementary information to the brain: the center covers a small area, and is optimized for processing high-resolution, color signals. In contrast, the periphery covers a broad area, and is optimized for motion and spatial organization. These visual systems underlie two attention systems that function in a similar way. Central attention is the ability to focus on a small slice of your overall experience, while actively ignoring the rest. Peripheral attention is maintaining a distributed awareness of your environment, and rapidly responding to motion and change because they may be signs of danger. These two attention systems act as a filter on what we see and what we don't see.

In his teaching on the Ten Stages of Samatha, Master John Yates² describes two mental abilities: stability of attention and mindfulness. His instructions articulate and draw upon the differentiation between the central and peripheral focus of attention in order to master our mind's tendency towards forgetting and undisciplined wandering. By placing our conscious focus on the breath yet still being aware of activity in the periphery (such as sounds, sensations in the body, and thoughts arising in the mind) we practice training the mind. These parallel the two attentions systems built upon our vision. The central focus is where our limited conscious attention sees in "hi res." The periphery is where we stay aware and alert for potential distractors that could hijack our attention.

Following are demonstrations of the two visual systems and the impact of attention on our perception. Click on each image to open the links.

Lilac Chaser

This illusion is an example of "Troxler's Fading," showing the consequences for your perception of shifting attention between the periphery and the center of your vision. Focus firmly on the central cross, and after a few seconds you will notice two changes: First, the sudden appearance of a bluish-green rotating circle. That circle is what is called a "complimentary color afterimage", and it does not exist on the screen -- it is constructed by the retina. Second, as you focus attention on the central visual field (by fixating on the "x") you will notice that the visual information in the periphery (the magenta dots) will fade away, leaving only the rotating afterimage. Shift to the periphery for a moment, and Poof! They're back. Even in this relatively simple visual illusion it is clear that what we call "reality" is always being influenced by projection and where we choose to focus attention. For a static image that illustrates this principle, click here. For more information, click here.  

Selective Attention

This selective attention demo shows the consequences of the interaction between center and peripheral attention, and also how our projections, our internal stories, distort what we perceive. You are asked to do a simple task - count the number of passes that people in white shirts make to each other, while ignoring the passes the people in black shirts. No matter how hard you try, you will probably get the number of passes wrong. This is because, without practice, you have a hard time being in control of where and how you deploy attention.   

These demonstrations dynamically illustrate the contingency, and inaccuracy, of our perception. The two visual systems support different kinds of selective attention, determining what we see and what we do not see. The visual system assembles snapshots into patterns, and patterns into categories, which then influence future perception. This aligns with the Buddhist idea of chi jedrak, quality and characteristic, or how the mind understands and thereby "sees" things based on categories and specific instantiations of that category.  

Our eyes do lie to us, out of physiological necessity. The world that most of us experience is deceptive, built on constructs that we project based on our habit patterns, especially how we have treated others in the past. Just as we mistakenly believe that our senses grasp the physical world correctly, so do we mistakenly believe that our minds correctly perceive how things work. We think that things "happen to us," and that people are inherently one way or another, from their own side. This delusion leads us to act ignorantly, and we collect more negative mental constructs, perpetuating the cycle of suffering.

By training our attention in meditation, we can develop stability of attention, keeping the central hi-res focus of our consciousness where we choose to, and become mindfully aware of potential distractions in the periphery. We can then direct our minds over and over to the process of seeing through the veils our own perceptual apparatuses are imposing to see how reality is really working-which is the only way to end our suffering.

- Todd Rose and Anne Meyer

1. Newland, Guy. Introduction to Emptiness: Tsong-kha-pa's Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2008. Page 6.

2. For the writings and teaching schedule of Master Culadasa, please go to http://dharmatreasure.com/

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REBOOT...RETREAT

Light on Meditation - Stillness & Insight Retreat 

November 15th is the deadline to register for the, possibly, once-in-this-lifetime opportunity to learn meditation techniques from a true master. John Yates, Ph.D., (Upasaka Culadasa) will  share his knowledge of how to make real progress in meditation at the Light on Meditation Stillness & Insight Retreat, February 29-March 8, Rollng Ridge Retreat and Conference Center, North Andover, Ma. Master Yates has been practicing meditation for over 35 years and is the Director of the Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sangha in Arizona. Beginners to seasoned practitioners will all be able to learn something from this special man in the quiet, nurturing environment of an 8-day retreat. Meals, lodging and  the gifts of the advanced practitioner are provided for your convenience and growth. Simply pay, show up ready to learn and be open to the possibilities of insight. See aci-capeann.org for more information.  

The Three-Year Retreat October Newsletter

with a special letter of thanks to the care takers. 

Click here to read a special letter of thanks from retreatants. 

IT'S NOT TO EARLY TO PLAN FOR THE 2012 SUMMER RETREAT!

Shoot the Moon: Diamonds, Hearts, and Wild Cards 

August 6 - PM Public Talk by Lama Marut

August 7-12  Retreat

Once again we will be at the beautiful Governor's Academy

Stay tuned for more details. 

2011 Summer Retreatants Speak Out (part 3)  

Explore the Path interviewed some participants in the Summer Retreat, 2011 at the Governor's Academy. Below are selected quotes from their insights, and links to the full videos and transcripts. Click on the picture or the link to video to view the movies.    

Tony Bittick

TB: My name is Tony Bittick and I'm from Detroit, Michigan.

Link to Video      Open Transcript 

Chuck Nishan

 In Art, man reveals himself and not his objects.
- Rabindranath Tagore  

 

Art as Worldview Projected

 

Visual art reflects the worldview of the artist, and can clearly illustrate the impact of one's filters in viewing and representing the world. In a sense, paintings can be seen as physical expressions of the artist's projections. The paintings of Camille Pissarro (10 July 1830 - 13 November 1903) and Jean-François Millet (October 4, 1814 - January 20, 1875) reflect very different interpretations of similar subject matter. Both painted rural workers, in the field and picking apples, but there is almost no resemblance between their depictions. Pissarro's paintings exude peace, safety, optimism and a sense of plenty,while Millet's paintings convey scarcity, fatigue, and pain.

 

The Apple Pickers

 

The utopian vision of community shows clearly in Pissarro's work. In The Apple Pickers he portrays three women working in a leisurely way, one resting and eating an apple. Vibrant colors and soft bright light convey a sense of peace and harmony, and the rounded figures

Hay Harvest at Ergany

seem comfortable in their efforts. They do not seem pressed to work harder or at a faster pace, and there is a sense of contemplation and abundance. Similarly, in Hay Harvest at Ergany, two women rest and watch while others work with a smile on their faces in lovely warm light.

 

 

Millet's paintings of similar subjects convey a distinctly different worldview. In his famous work, The Gleaners, he depicts three

peasants stooped over, collecting the meager residues of crops that have been harvested for others. Harsh light illuminates stark figures whose bodies seem to be in painful positions.

The Gleaners

In Gathering Apples, Millet

Gathering Apples

uses dull colors and dark tonalities, with stooped figures and stressed facial expressions. During his years of preparatory studies Millet contemplated how to best convey the sense of repetition and fatigue in the peasants' daily lives in order to express on canvas, his "out there", perception of the life of the peasant.

  

Paintings allow us to see the effect of the filters and biases that constrain our perceptions which not only color, but actually configure our world. Without images and labels arising in the mind, there can be neither painting nor "reality" as filtered through our inner dialogue and our labels.  

 

- Barbara Simundza

 

Images from Wikipedia, public domain images (click names to go to source):

Apple Pickers,  Hay Harvest,  The Gleaners,  Gathering Apples

I Came into the Unknown*

by John of the Cross (1542 - 1591)

English version by Willis Barnstone    

Original Language: Spanish      

  

I came into the unknown

and stayed there unknowing

rising beyond all science.

 

I did not know the door

but when I found the way,

unknowing where I was,

I learned enormous things,

but what I felt I cannot say,

for I remained unknowing,

rising beyond all science.

 

It was the perfect realm

of holiness and peace.

In deepest solitude

I found the narrow way:

a secret giving such release

that I was stunned and stammering,

rising beyond all science.

 

I was so far inside,

so dazed and far away

my senses were released

from feelings of my own.

My mind had found a surer way:

a knowledge of unknowing,

rising beyond all science.

 

And he who does arrive

collapses as in sleep,

for all he knew before

now seems a lowly thing,

and so his knowledge grows so deep

that he remains unknowing,

rising beyond all science.

 

The higher he ascends

the darker is the wood;

it is the shadowy cloud

that clarified the night,

and so the one who understood

remains always unknowing,

rising beyond all science.

 

This knowledge by unknowing

is such a soaring force

that scholars argue long

but never leave the ground.

Their knowledge always fails the source:

to understand unknowing,

rising beyond all science.

 

This knowledge is supreme

crossing a blazing height;

though formal reason tries

it crumbles in the dark,

but one who would control the night

by knowledge of unknowing

will rise beyond all science.

 

And if you wish to hear:

the highest science leads

to an ecstatic feeling

of the most holy Being;

and from his mercy comes his deed:

to let us stay unknowing,

rising beyond all science.

 

-Submitted by Cindy Lee

* Source:  http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com

Transactions

1

What do we like best

about ourselves?

Our inability

to be content.

We might see this

restlessness

As a chip

not yet cashed in.

2

You appear

because you're lonely

Maybe.

you would not say that.

You come to me

you're saving money

by cooking for yourself.

You've figured out

what units you'll need

To exchange for units

if you intend

I know I mustn't

interrupt

3

Hectic and flexible,

flames

are ideal

new bodies for us!

- Rae Armantrout, Poetry, October 2011, Volume CXCIX, Number 1

- Submitted by Stacey Fisher 

 Back to Contents 

IN THE LOOP      

The Vajramudra Center

WHAT COMES NEXT?

With our sangha bursting at the seams, heavy construction expected across the street in the near future and our second grant offer from the Tides Foundation in hand, we are at a great moment to stop and ponder "What's next for us?" Do we want to expand our dharma center? If so, should we rent or purchase a larger dharma center, a retreat center, or a property that can accommodate both?

Over 40 members of our community came together on Saturday, October 1 to begin exploring these and related questions. In a lively discussion facilitated by Phil Salzman, community members learned the results of an on-line survey created by Lama Jesse, got a sense of area real estate prices based on research by Leslie Whelan, and heard presentations on our finances and other matters from the board.  

Here are some of the evening's highlights:

            - the $35,000 Tides Foundation grant is a matching grant to purchase property;  

            - a generous sangha member has added another $15,000 to the Tides challenge grant, making                   it possible for us to bring in $100,000 by raising $50,000;

            - the Tides Foundation will match whatever we can raise, up to $35,000, even if we have are not

                  ready to purchase property in the near term.

            - our retreat program is operating at a small net gain

            - our operating expenses are up marginally compared to this time last year

            - our pledges to the general operating account are down approximately 15% compared to this

                  time last year, and we are tapping into our reserve funds

            - we are about to launch our first capital campaign

Prior to the meeting, Lama Jesse invited everyone to participate in an on-line survey about our next steps. 31% of the respondents said they did not have enough information, 35% wanted to purchase a dual-purpose retreat and dharma center property, 24 % wanted to purchase a dharma center, and 1% wanted to purchase a retreat center. After discussion of purchase and rental prices for property in and around Cape Ann, and beyond, there was considerable discussion about the goals of our organization. As a community we need to consider whom we want to serve. Have we reached everyone we can at our present location? Do we want to increase our reach beyond Cape Ann? Is the community willing to commit more funds while we have an operating deficit? If so, do we want to buy or rent? Do we want to wait to purchase a retreat center and focus on enlarging our dharma center only?

We discussed relocating our center nearer to or across the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge, but still on Cape Ann. By a show of hands it appeared the majority would be willing to drive to a different location especially if the drive remained in the range of 30 minutes. Opinions were mixed on whether to acquire or rent a retreat center at this time.

The board is responsible for creating a vision for our future as a community, and launching our capital campaign consistent with that vision. But the board cannot fulfill its duty without more input from all of us. As Lama Jesse said, we need to go 'into our hearts' and see what we want. This is a critical time in our growth as a community. Please convey your thoughts to the board, Lama Jesse and Lama Phil.

Please stay tuned for announcements of future community meetings and be sure to attend!

Board members: Elizabeth Toulan, Kari Freytag, Stephen Kelley, Karen Aase, Barbara Koen, Pattie O'Brien

and Larry Wolf (sangha@aci-capeann.org)

Spiritual Advisor: Lama Jesse Fallon (spiritualadvisor@aci-capeann.org)

Advisory board member: Lama Phil Salzman (psalzman020@gmail.com)

John Yates, Ph.D., (Upasaka Culadasa) will  share his knowledge of how to make real progress in meditation at the Light on Meditation Stillness & Insight Retreat, February 29-March 8, Rollng Ridge Retreat and Conference Center, North Andover, Ma.  See aci-capeann.org for more information.

Christine and Deepak Chopra

Ayurveda Workshop

Introduction to Ayurveda, the ancient healing arts of India

with Christine Cronin of Satya Wellness, Beverly, MA 

Tues., Nov. 8th, 7-9pm

Cape Ann Waldorf School, 701 Cabot St., Beverly, MA

Find out about your dosha, your unique Ayurvedic bod-mind constitution and learn ways to maintain or regain health with simple, everyday lifestyle practices for you and your family. Learn workplace yoga, how to breathe for stress relief and how a few dietary cahnges can work wonders for your digestive system. Admission is free. 

Meditation Series with Mary Kay Dyer

Sundays: November 27th, December 4, 11 and 18, 7-8:30pm 

Unitarian Universalist Church Society of Rockport, 5 Cleaves St., Rockport, MA   

All are welcome, no experience necessary. Please bring your own meditation cushion. 

We will use meditation and ideas from world religions to examine important life questions such as "Who are you, really? How can you find permanent happiness? How can you change the world around you?"  Mary Kay is a life-long teacher, currently doing so at ACI-Cape Ann, Rockport, MA. 

Visit rockportuu@rockportuu.org or call 978-546-2989 for more information. 

ACI-Cape Ann Serving at the Open Door Food Pantry 

Lama Jesse

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED...Sunday, November 13  

2pm start, 4pm serve, finish by 6:30pm     

We need:

- Funds to buy food $200-$300  

- 4-8 meal servers 

- Head Cook: meal planner/organizer

Optional:  Dessert Cook, Salad Bar Preparer, Grocery Shopper and Bread Baker/Buyer 

Children are welcome to serve the meal and are appreciated as long as they have parental supervision. To volunteer, please contact Sharon Muddiman at  sangha@aci-capeann.org
 

ACI-Cape Ann Looking for Volunteer Help

Class Materials Coordinator

To interface with the program committee and registrar for all ACI Formal Classes, Dharma Essentials and the odd reading or more for visiting Teachers.......order the required materials from a local printer.....proof read....purchase binders or presentation materials....compile the materials together...deliver the books and/or readings...calculate the price for each book...print out the registration list before the first class, to be left with the printed and compiled materials. Please reply to sangha@aci-capeann.org if you're interested. Thanks!  

Meditations in Emptiness 1: A Meditation Course on Arya Nagarjuna's Root Verses of the Middle Way (Mulamadhyamakakarika)

with Jesse Fallon, Wednesdays, 7:30-9:30pm, Nov 2-Dec 7. Registration required. No drop-ins.

---------------------- 

How Karma Works: Asian Classics Formal Course 5

with Mary Kay Dyer, Mondays, Nov 7-Jan 2, 7-9pm, and Saturday, Dec 17, 3-5pm.

----------------------   

Light On Meditation - A Stillness & Insight Retreat with Special Guest Teacher Upasaka Culadasa (John Yates, Ph.D.). Feb 29-Mar 8, 2012. Registration required by Nov 15. 
 ---------------------

Meditation Series with Mary Kay Dyer

Sundays: November 27th, December 4, 11 and 18, 7-8:30pm 

Unitarian Universalist Church Society of Rockport, 5 Cleaves St., Rockport, MA   

All are welcome, no experience necessary. Please bring your own meditation cushion.  

Visit rockportuu@rockportuu.org or call 978-546-2989 for more information.   

 ---------------------

Meditation Boot Camp - Not just for Buddhists

with Larry Wolf, Tuesdays, Nov 15-Dec 20, 7:30-9:30pm.

-------------------

 The Ethical Life: Dharma Essentials 9

with Margaret Redington, Sundays, Oct 16, 23, 30 & Nov 6, 2-4pm.

---------------------- 

The Art of Reasoning: Asian Classics Formal Course 13

with Jesse Fallon, Saturdays, Oct 29; Nov 5 & 19; Dec 10, 1-5:45pm.  

----------------------  

Weekly Meditation, Yoga, Discussion, Debate and Family Offerings with a variety of wonderful teachers at the Vajramudra Center, aci-capeann.org

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