Your Spaceship

In my interview starting on page 24 Shinzen Young makes what might sound to you like a bold statement: “If we think of Asian culture as a mountain, what is at its peak? What has Asia done better than any other culture? It created the technology of meditation.” He then likens Asia’s meditative technologies found in Yoga, Buddhism, Taoism, etc. to Western societies’ achievements in science and technology.

Quite a comparison: A rocket ship vs. a blissed-out meditator. The mantra “om” vs. the internet. Are they equally impressive? Yes, according to Shinzen Young.

In spite of the development of the global village, you and most residents of the USA likely don’t grasp this concept. (If you do, try out these images on your mother-in-law.)

Here it is again: overcoming the centripetal force of “I” identity compared to overcoming the gravitational field of our planet. One achievement launches you into ecstatic awareness, the other launches a space craft into the cosmos beyond Earth.

Ok ok. I hear you asking, “What has meditation done for raising millions of people out of the misery of poverty and disease?” I concede, not much, other than create more generous and compassionate people. But meditative pioneers over all of humanity’s history didn’t tackle that particular problem. They tackled a different, but equally persistent question.

They asked, “What’s the end result of skillfull awareness?” What if I stop doing all the internal talking that messes with my head and pay really, really close attention to what’s happening every moment? What might I see differently, such as my mind, the stuff around me, you, everything?
Perhaps the view I end up with would blow my mind, so to speak, and change everything for me. Many say that’s what happened, sort of, to Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Gautama the Buddha, Lao Tzu and countless other spiritual greats.

Now here’s the really big “what if?” Does having an ordinary human body and mind make me, you, anyone, eligible for the BIG view? Yes, according to Shinzen Young. He says, “People tell me, ‘Hey, check out this website. There’s this kid out in rural Vermont who claims to be enlightened.’ The very first thing that goes through my mind is ‘They probably are.’ But you can’t know for sure. I’m inclined to believe it, because enlightenment is natural for everyone; it’s just waiting to happen.”

I asked Young, “How important is the dialogue between meditative practices of the East and the science and technology of the West?” He answered, “This may turn out to be one of the most important events in the history of humanity.”

Still flummoxed and confused, wondering how he could make such an outrageous claim?
Look at it this way: for a moment assume that all there is on Earth is Western inventiveness, individualism and ambition. And it continues to be tremendously successful for 100 more years. You (and everyone else) can fly to the Moon for vacation. You own lots of beautiful and useful stuff (see P. 20 for more about “stuff”), your ancestors’ mess-ups like burning up all the planet’s fossil fuels have been solved. Now what? Will you still, like today, like humans throughout history, ponder the meaning of life, wonder about pain, anxiety and loss? Will you wonder what your mind’s capacities are? If you do, you will wish others before you had pursued such questions, and found answers. Well, they have.