Here’s the second question from Glenn Wallis’ approach to working with Buddhist texts (from Basic Teachings of the Buddha):

What limitations do I impose on the text?  For example, would I be willing to do the practices that may be required for a thorough understanding of the text?

 I’m no scholar of Buddhist texts so my work with this question would be, in itself, a limiting of the texts as a meta-document.  One of things I do struggle with are the repetitions among various collections but also an anxiety that I’m not picking up the subtleties that may also be contradictions.  That aside, it makes for interesting self-revelation to sense into the hitch of the in-breath, the slight clutch at the throat or belly when I encounter a teaching that just doesn’t mesh with the way I believe the world should work.  That initial arising of doubt or culturally-based rejection points to a rich understanding of my own limitations, my own willingness to push my edge.

The validity or veracity of the text can be in question; hoisting 2,600 year-old teachings into the present poses many difficulties.  But for now let’s suppose that isn’t so much the issue as is cultivating wisdom.   If the intent is to develop trust in my intuitive understanding, it helps to notice these moments of resistance.  Then it is important to turn towards this self that is stepping back as ask the question again – of a different subject:

What am I imposing on myself?  

When I started the Chaplaincy program, I had envisioned a process of studying the sutras and digging deeply into koan practice.  As the year unfolded it became clear that this weaving together of heart/mind was going to be challenging and it demanded more than structuring time to read and reflect.  The subtle aspects of learning, absorbing Dharma rain, are not laid out in any manual.  It is very much a process that relies on the convergence of teachers, materials, readiness, and simmering time.

One of the best approaches to this form of heart/mind absorption of the teachings is by Glenn Wallis.  In trying to organize my thoughts on the Four Noble Truths (and, if you’ve read of my previous notations on them here, you may feel it’s a hopeless task), I started working with Wallis’ Basic Teachings of the Buddha.  Nothing like going back to the basics and, in this case, well worth it.

Wallis takes great pains to explain the nature of his own organizational structure.  In about 11 pages of Introduction, he covers the developmental history of the Buddha and his teachings.  Then on page xxi, the fun begins.  I actually may never get past the Introduction to the texts themselves because what Wallis proposes we pose as questions in our relationship to the suttas are also life questions.

In reading the texts, Wallis suggests we ask several questions.  The first few are related directly to the texts themselves: meaning, theme, trajectory and so on.  Then he suggests questions that I particularly love to work with – not just with respect to contemplative text but with any aspect of life presenting itself in the moment.

Here’s the first one:

What does this text demand of me?  For example, does it indicate some sort of practice is required for a thorough understanding?  Does it ask me to alter my life in some fundamental way?

Wallis has sixteen suttas he presents in his book.  I think this approach would work with any text.  Or any life.  Give it a shot and let me know what opens up for you.