That Is Not What I Thought

Buddhism can sometime appear confusing. One of the main reasons for this is that we are frequently hearing two different interpretations or emphasis from two different Buddhist philosophical schools. Though it is not philosophy in the western sense of the word, in the East, it is considered spiritual.

For example, the Mādhyamaka school focuses mainly on the teachings of interdependence. This presentation examines the external nature of cause and effect. How everything in our world impacts everything else. Interdependence is also called emptiness, oneness or conditional co-arising. In the West, the Mādhyamaka school is usually presented in a scientific fashion. Fredrick J. Streng warns against this inclination in his book Emptiness: A Study in Religious Meaning. This teaching is spiritual in nature not scientific.

The Yogācāra philosophical school takes another approach. It focuses on the inward nature of this teaching. In other words, how reality feels to us and how we cognize it. At first this appears to be very psychological in tone and content. I even read that “the Buddha was the first psychiatrist.” Like Streng, I would suggest that this is a spiritual teaching. Another phrase associated with this teaching, is that “We create the world with our mind”. This does not mean that the world is all in our imagination. It simply means that the world is not as it may appear to us.

This is because we assume that meaning is external to us when, in fact, we are effortlessly assigning meaning to the events in our lives. We don’t even realize that we are doing this. We do this in two ways. First, we unknowingly promote our opinions to facts. Second, we only notice the events around us that align with our opinions. For example, perhaps we only notice bad drivers who are young because we believe young people are bad drivers.

Once you become aware of this process, it can become quite humorous. And you begin to wonder how many times have I confused opinions for facts? This realization can begin to soften our judgements and the rigidity of our thinking. I would like to share a personal example.

I went to the optometrist for an eye exam and needed to get a new pair of glasses. I also wanted to get a new pair of prescription sunglass since my current pair was old. I went Costco and purchased both pairs.

The glasses were nice, but the sunglasses were fancy. They were Oakley in a fancy black Oakley case. I used the Oakley case only when in my car whenever I had to switch glasses.

A week or so later I got my car washed. I usually wear my sunglasses and hold on to my seeing glasses in the Oakley case since I didn’t want them to get lost. After the wash, we came home to drive to my wife’s yoga class, in her car. I threw the glass case into her car with the seeing glasses. Before we left, I checked to make sure they were in her car, but they were not. I searched everywhere but they were nowhere to be found. I panicked.

I got on my hands and knees in both cars with a flashlight and nothing, even under the seats. I didn’t go with Linda so I could continue the search for my missing glasses and case. Nothing was found anywhere. I decided to drive back to the carwash and see if someone had turned them in. To my surprise, someone had turned in an Oakley case but when I opened it, it was empty. It even had the Costco lens wipe inside.

I can understand the attraction a pair of Oakley sunglasses but not prescription seeing glasses. I had to return to Costco to have another pair of glasses made. Still simmering about the great glasses heist of 2024. Brand new and no good to anyone else but me.

I kept going over these events in my mind. I must have left the glass case in the car while at the car wash and someone helped themselves to the glasses. After all it was my empty Oakley glass case with the Costco lens wipe or so I thought. Then a few weeks later, my wife asked me to close my eyes and hold out my hands.

I opened my eyes and there was my original Oakley glass case. I opened it and there was my prescription glasses. Now I have two pairs of new glasses and cases. They were never taken. When I threw them into my wife’s car, they must have gotten wedged under the car seat. They reappeared after a sharp turn or speed bump. I felt so foolish. All the evidence pointed to a vast criminal conspiracy and yet it was just an unfortunate bounce. My self-created soap opera had been resolved. I laughed and remembered to continue to beware of self-created narratives.

It is not only the world that is flowing but also our thoughts and opinions. My facts are merely my facts just as are everyone else’s. This realization is the best we can do. This is insight. I had created the world with my mind.

Namoamidabutsu, Rev Jon Turner