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Directions to Liberation - Diana Clark

The following talk was given by Diana Clark at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on January 09, 2024. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.

Directions to Liberation

It is the tradition near the beginning of the year to talk about some of the foundational teachings, and so I thought I would do a little bit of that today. But I want to talk about them in a different way, not the usual way. I often like to do this not the usual way—I don't know what that says about me exactly!

I'll start by noting that the Buddha used a lot of similes and metaphors. Part of the fun of reading the suttas¹ is really how the Buddha brings things to life with these similes. A simile is a way in which you know something is like something else. It starts with something presumably that you know and that you're familiar with, and then this new idea, whatever the Buddha is teaching, he's saying, "Oh, it's like this thing you already know." For us, thousands of years later, we have to imagine what it was like for them back then, but I think we can. Many of the similes have to do with agriculture, animals, or something like this.

Somebody even counted them. Caroline Rhys Davids²—she was one of the very first translators back in the 1890s, when the suttas were just getting translated into Western languages at the end of the 19th century—counted 568 different concepts for which the Buddha gave a simile. That is a lot! It's quite something that he loved to use this way for teaching.

The Path to Liberation

I'll start with something that would be more of a metaphor than a simile, if you wanted to get technical. It is this idea that the Buddha's teachings describe a way to liberation—to greater freedom, greater peace, greater well-being. Different people have different relationships to this word "liberation." That's fine; you're welcome to have your own relationship with it, what it means to you, and why you practice. But the central premise is that there's a path, a way to get to this liberation, this greater well-being.

We often describe it as a path. When we bring that to mind, it often has a sense of, "Oh yeah, there's a clear passageway through which a person, or any creature, could just walk along." But that's not quite the way that it is. When we have this idea in our mind of a path, it's often something that is there already. We walk along the sidewalk, the road, or the hiking trail; it's there already, we find it, and we walk on it.

But this path to liberation, maybe the pointing to it has happened before, but it's not necessarily like a clear passageway that just exists. Instead, we are creating it as we're walking it, as we're doing these teachings, as we're cultivating these wholesome qualities, and as we're practicing mindfulness, concentration, and right speech. This metaphor kind of breaks down because we often start to think, "If I just get on the path, then it'll be smooth sailing." This idea of a path is more of a concept. It is really the things that we are doing and experiencing in this moment.

To get back to this metaphor of the path: when we're walking on a passageway, we bring all of ourselves there. We don't bring just one arm and leave the other arm behind. In the same way, this path towards greater freedom, ease, and peace requires all of us, all aspects of us. It requires even those secret, hidden parts that we wish would just go away or we don't even want to acknowledge exist. What's in our mind, what's in our hearts, what we say, what we do—all of it is part of this path.

The Forgotten City

There is a metaphor not only of a path, but of a path that was discovered by somebody in the woods who said, "Oh wow, I think there's a path here." They took a hatchet, chopped down some of the things that were in the way, and found their way along this passageway. It was a lot of work. And then they found this beautiful ancient city that had been there, but had been overgrown. They cleaned it all up and discovered, "Wow, this place is fantastic, it's beautiful."

Then, this individual went back and told the king and the queen, "Hey, I discovered this path to this really beautiful location." The king and the queen go and they walk on the path, and they go to this beautiful place and say, "This is great. We're going to stay here and we're going to move our kingdom here."

I first heard this story from Gil Fronsdal³. Back then, I was really touched by this idea. He said it's meaningful that this individual went back and told the king and the queen, and then the king and the queen are the ones walking on this path. It points to a sense of nobility, a sense of what's noble in all of us to be on this path towards greater freedom. It brings a sense of the regal, of uprightness, and a sense of respect for those individuals who are on this path.

In this way, liberation is like this long-forgotten city in the forest. Just as it's possible to reclaim and inhabit the city once the path is found, it is possible to live a life with greater freedom, ease, and peace as we engage with this path.

Tissa and the Fork in the Road

Elsewhere in the suttas, there's a richer description of this idea of a path that I'd like to share with you. It takes place in the context of one of the Buddha's cousins, whose name was Tissa. Tissa was a monastic who had ordained underneath his cousin, the Buddha, and he was having a hard time. He says, "I am dissatisfied with the spiritual life." He uses this formal language to essentially say, "This is not all I thought it was going to be, and I have doubts about the teachings." Here is somebody who ordained, who decided to commit his life to the practice, and after doing it for some time is saying, "I'm dissatisfied and I have doubts."

The Buddha gives him some teachings, including a simile. The Buddha says to Tissa, "Suppose there were two people, and one was not skilled in the path and the other one was. That individual who was not skilled in the path would question the one who was skilled, and the person who was skilled in the path would reply: 'This is the right way. Walk along it for a while and you will come to a fork in the road. Avoid the left fork and go down the right fork. Walk along it for a while and you will see a dense forest. Go through the forest for a while and then you'll see a vast marshy swamp. Go through the swamp for a while and then you will see a steep slope. Go down the slope for a while and then you will see a level, clear parkland.'"

This is a little bit more descriptive. The Buddha then unpacks that for Tissa. What are these different things that one would meet in walking this path? The Buddha gives precise descriptions, but I'm going to embellish them a little bit to make them more relatable for modern times.

The Buddha explains to Tissa that the person who doesn't know the path, or is not skilled in it, is everybody who is not awakened. The person who is skilled in it is somebody who is awakened, such as the Buddha. The instructions were to go in this direction and you will come to a fork in the road.

The Fork in the Road: Doubt

What does the fork in the road represent? The fork represents doubt. This sense of, "I'm not so sure about this." It can show up in a number of different ways. "Is this really going to lead to greater well-being?" Or, "Do I really understand what the teachings are?" "We're all sitting quiet for 30 minutes, but am I doing what everybody else is doing? Am I supposed to be doing this?" We can have doubt about what we're doing, doubt about the practice, or doubt about the teachings. We can have doubt about the teacher: "Does Diana really know what she's talking about?" We can even say this about the Buddha! There are so many different ways in which doubt can show up.

I love that it is just flat out there: doubt is going to arise. Instead of pretending like, "As long as you just believe enough, it'll be fine," doubt is acknowledged as part of the path. We are not asking people to just believe and not have any doubt. It's the opposite. It is saying doubt is going to arise, and we work with doubt by investigating.

There are a few ways in which we can do this. One is to gain some clarity. What is it that I'm really vacillating about? What is it that makes me hesitate, that makes me not quite sure if I really want to do this? Even just asking ourselves what it is specifically can help bring some clarity. "I guess I'm just not sure if I actually can do this. It seems kind of hard, this whole meditating regularly thing. People talk about retreats—I don't know if I can ever go on a retreat, or if I want to go."

First, investigate what the doubt is about. Is there something that you're unsure of? If it's about your own capabilities, maybe you can remind yourself of how you have learned how to do other things: drive a car, ride a bicycle, play an instrument, or learn a different language. In the beginning, there's always this feeling of, "I'm not so sure about it."

If, instead, you have specific doubts about the teachings—"Buddhists say this, and in this tradition they say that, but what's the truth? Do I have to believe everything myself?"—I'll say you don't have to believe everything. I really like to emphasize this. This tradition, especially the way that we teach it here, emphasizes what you can experience and what you can know for yourself. It's not about just taking on more views and beliefs. We're not asking you to swallow everything, drink the Kool-Aid, and become part of the clan. Instead, see for yourself.

If you have specific questions, ask somebody. Ask a teacher, read a Dharma book, listen to Dharma talks, ask somebody else that you know. There's a way to engage with whatever it is that you have doubt about. The Buddha gives very clear instructions on how to investigate a teacher. He even says that you should investigate whether they are exhibiting greed, hatred, or delusion. You're welcome to examine me! I'm not a completely awakened person; I still have some greed, hatred, and delusion. But I'm up here sharing it with you. I'm not deluded that I'm not deluded! [Laughter]

This fork in the road is about doubt. Often we wouldn't assign the word "doubt" to it, but it shows up as a hesitation, like, "I'm not sure." I appreciate Gil Fronsdal's open-handedness regarding this. I remember a teaching he gave early on where he said, "Maybe those who are practicing Sufism and do a lot of dancing are having more fun, so maybe you might go over there." If this practice works for you, this is fantastic, and we're happy that you're here. But you don't have to stay, of course.

The Left Fork and the Right Fork

Walking along the path, you come to a fork, and the instructions were: don't go to the left, go to the right. The left is the wrong path, and the right is the right path. What does that mean?

For those of you who are familiar with the Eightfold Path, they talk about "right" and these eight elements versus "wrong" and these eight elements. But we're using this word "right" not in a moralistic way, but in a way that means this is the best tool. A screwdriver is the right tool for undoing screws, rather than a hammer. So "right" means correct, most appropriate, or wise.

I'll briefly say what the Eightfold Path is: wise view, wise intention, wise speech, wise action, wise livelihood, wise effort, wise mindfulness, and wise concentration. Here is the mnemonic that I use: VISALEMC—View, Intention, Speech, Action, Livelihood, Effort, Mindfulness, Concentration.

To go down the left would be to do "wrong" view, wrong intention, wrong speech, etc. Without going into all the details of exactly what they are, it's interesting to point out that the wrong path—wrong in the sense that it's not going to lead you to greater peace, happiness, and liberation in a stable way—lures us. It's not innocently just there to the left. Today, we have hyper-palatable foods. We have things that are purposely designed to be as delicious and addictive as possible. This didn't exist in the Buddha's time. We have advertising agencies whose job is to convince us to do things. We have media sources whose job is to get us to click and get lost, or get us outraged. They are purposely trying to lure us to this other way.

It's not so easy to just go down the right path. When you first go down the right path, you can't see very far. Maybe you have to do a little bit of chopping away at the jungle. It's not like you can see clearly that in a few steps everything is going to be fine. But the other way, they are luring us with, "Oh yeah, this is going to be delicious, this is going to be fun, you're going to feel good."

I just want to acknowledge that it's so easy to go down the other way. We all do it in different ways, and we spend different durations of time down there. If you find that happening, no problem. Just come back over. You don't have to go back to the fork; just hop over! I love this. We start where we are. Sometimes where we are is down watching YouTube videos for an hour and realizing, "Oh my gosh, how did I find myself here while eating potato chips?"

The Dense Forest: Ignorance

The instructions were to avoid the left fork, take the right, walk for a little while, and you'll see a dense forest. You go through the forest. The forest is ignorance, and ignorance is defined as just not knowing. It doesn't mean you're incapable of knowing; you just didn't know.

When we take the right fork and go on the path a little bit, the first step in the Eightfold Path is view. We can understand Right View as using a framework to see our experience. There are two elements to this framework. First: actions have consequences. Of course they do, this is not news to anybody. But it's the thoroughness of this—that what happens in our minds has consequences, what we say has consequences, and how we are in the world has consequences. Recognizing that everything has consequences really highlights the importance of what we are doing with our life and how we're spending our time. When we start to pay attention to that, we start to realize, "I don't actually know what my mind is doing all the time. Ignorance. I don't know what I'm saying all the time. Sometimes things just come out."

The second element is: there is suffering, and there are reasons for suffering. There are difficulties and reasons for difficulties, and there is the end of difficulties and reasons for not having difficulties. This isn't news to anybody either, but as a framework it helps to notice, "Oh yeah, this is one of those difficulties," and to inquire into the underlying cause.

When we start to have a little bit of Right View, we start to see how much we don't know. Maybe we don't know what's underneath causing the difficulties, and maybe we don't know how to find a way away from them. This dense forest is ignorance, and often we have to pass through this.

So much of meditation practice is helping us learn about ourselves and notice what the mind likes to do. I often say that I had no idea I was such a planner until I started meditation practice! What other things are there to learn? We see what our reactions are when we're physically uncomfortable. Do we turn to anger, hatred, pity, or "poor me"? What are the patterns of our life? They start to show up in our meditation practice. Going through this dense forest is a way of working through ignorance to the other side. A big step through this ignorance is just acknowledging, "You know what? I don't know nearly as much as I thought I did about myself."

The Vast Marshy Swamp: Sensuality

Continuing this simile of the path, after the forest, you get to this vast marshy swamp. I like this idea of a swamp. It's something where you have to tread carefully, try to find firm ground from one little area to the next, and take each step with care so that you don't fold into the quicksand. You seek out solid ground at each step. This swamp represents seeking comfort or sensuality—things that are always pleasant to the senses.

We are incessantly looking to be as comfortable as possible. There isn't anything wrong with that. We can definitely do that and still stay on solid ground without sinking into the swamp. But it's tricky because we can slide right into pursuing pleasure after pleasure after pleasure. Psychologists have been talking about this hedonic treadmill for years. There is no end. We keep on thinking, "As soon as I get this, as soon as I do that, then I'll be happy." It turns out it doesn't work so well.

I heard a portion of an interview a few days ago with David Goggins. He is an ultramarathoner and former Navy SEAL who does these incredible feats. He says, "I don't like it. I don't want to do it. But I'm doing it anyway." The neuroscientist interviewing him explained that they discovered there's an area in the brain that grows when you do things specifically that you don't want to do. It doesn't count if you didn't want to do it and now you like it. You have to not want to do it. As this area of the brain grows, there's more ease and happiness. All of us know this: there's something that feels good when we do something that's a little bit difficult. Apologizing, not eating the potato chips, or whatever it is—these things make our life better. Otherwise, our life just gets smaller and smaller if we're only trying to be comfortable all the time.

Sensual pleasures, joy, and happiness are a part of life. I don't want to say it has to be austerity and nothing but difficulty. But just watch how we are with our sensuality. We can get lost in there, thinking that it will finally make us happy. As I've said many times here: if it did make you happy, you would not be here on a Monday night! You would be out there doing whatever it is that makes you happy.

The Steep Slope: Anger and Despair

After the swamp, there is a steep slope—we can even think of a cliff. The steep slope stands for anger and despair (sometimes translated as anger and distress). It's quite something that the Buddha is flat out saying this: anger and despair are a part of the path.

Sometimes, if things aren't the way that we want them to be, we get a little bit angry. This is dukkha⁴. The Buddha has been pointing to this. We feel like, "Well, why not? Looks like this person has that, why can't I?" We can feel this despair: "I'm never going to get better. Things are never going to be different." We have this strong sense of self that wants to be bolstered, protected, and polished so that we're always looking good for other people and for ourselves. As long as that's really strong and we're always trying to look good, there will be anger and there will be despair, because there isn't a solid core to which everything happens. Instead, there's just this collection of experiences. Sometimes things look great, and sometimes they don't. That's just how it is.

Anger and despair are part of the path of practice. It doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong necessarily. Part of the reason why I really appreciate this is the humanness that the Buddha is bringing into this.

The Level Clear Park: Liberation

After going through the forest, the swamp, and the steep slope or cliff, you get to a level, clear park. It's easy—if it's level, you don't have to go up and down hills, and it's a park designed to be pleasant. The Buddha is describing that as Nibbana⁵. But even if we don't aspire exactly for Nibbana, maybe it's just a place where there can be some more ease. Of course there are times of more ease too; it's not always drudgery through forests and swamps and steepness. Maybe we come to a landing, a plateau, get our bearings, rest for a minute, and then we can see, "Oh yeah, okay, now I think it's time to go this direction."

At the end of this sutta, the Buddha says to his cousin Tissa, "I'm here to advise you, to assist you, and to teach you." I appreciate this very much. The Buddha is saying, "Okay, you're not just out there on your own. I'm giving you some directions." We could say that all these suttas are about instructions and directions. He's saying, "I'm here to advise you, to assist you, and to teach you how to find your way through the forests, the swamps, and the cliffs."

With that, I think I'll stop and open it up and see if there are some questions or comments.

Q&A

Questioner 1: Thank you. Sometimes I question why I meditate. However, after I meditate, I know why. It's very simple: because I feel better.

Diana Clark: And when you're questioning why you meditate, are you still able to meditate even though you're questioning, "Why am I doing this? I don't know, but I'm going to do it anyway." Is it kind of like that?

Questioner 1: Well, kind of like that, yeah. But it's well worth it, even though I have doubts.

Diana Clark: Yeah, very nice. Thank you for sharing that. Anybody else have a comment or question? Maybe we'll try over here.

Questioner 2: Thank you. This is a comment more than a question. I've been listening to David Goggins' book on Audible. I haven't gotten to the place where he starts running marathons, but I do know he just got into the SEALs. Anyway, it's fascinating about the neuroscience of that.

Diana Clark: Yes, it is fascinating. I think there's a part of us that recognizes when we accomplish something that's hard, there's an uplift, like, "Oh yeah, I did it." The neuroscientists, they're always finding something. Anybody else have a comment or question?

Questioner 3: Diana, I'll strengthen that comment about Goggins. I heard the same thing from Jack LaLanne⁶. Most people don't even know who he is, but when they asked him, he said, "I don't really like going to the gym. I don't really like going and working out." But he did, and he was able to make quite a career of teaching exercise and doing these incredible things. Didn't you hear he towed a rowboat with 2,000 pounds in it behind him, handcuffed, from San Francisco to Alcatraz?

Diana Clark: That's amazing. Wow. Okay, so these amazing individuals have something in them that does that.

Questioner 3: But I sort of wonder, there must also be some part that knows that there's a reward there. That it isn't just, "I'm going to do this out of just some sort of ego thing."

Diana Clark: Yeah. I think today, the lure to not do difficult things is so strong. The idea of doing something difficult looms so large in our minds, like, "Oh, I can't do that," because it's so much easier to just click this or open up the cupboard and have something pleasurable. Maybe just having a regular meditation practice is the hard thing. Maybe coming to IMC is a hard thing.

Well, thank you all. I wish you safe travels home. May the path home be safe, and when you get to the fork in the road, turn right! [Laughter] Thank you, and if you have some questions you're welcome to come up and talk to me privately.