With apologies to the late George Schulz, happiness is not a warm puppy. Puppies last a few weeks and then they’re dogs. And dogs don’t last very long, either.
But a warm brain can last…forever? The Buddha spoke often against thoughts of eternal life after the present one has ended, so he would not be popular among today’s Christians. He also spoke against the opposite idea, that of eternal annihilation. That would make him unpopular among the eat, drink, and be merry crowd, they who don’t want to experience any results of their actions.
He said both ideas were wrong because there is no eternal self that can live forever nor is there an eternal self that could vanish forever. Life keeps coming back, but in a changed form. Thus there is no permanent self that can enjoy eternal life nor is there a permanent self that can be forever extinguished. The law of cause and effect, like time itself, can never end because it was never created.
So the happiness of a warm brain can come and go forever, lacking permanent existence as well as permanent non-existence.
How do we get a warm brain? Speaking from experience, my brain develops a warm, very pleasant glow after about half an hour of counting exhalations as set forth in the Beginning Zen section of www.howtopracticezen.com. Some days that warm glow comes within just a few minutes of sitting. But my professional life as a registered patent attorney is fast-paced, highly complex, and deadline-driven. So on some days it takes a half hour to get out of that craziness.
My Zen teacher always told me to place that warm glow in the hara, not the head. So I always try to push it into the hara and sometimes I succeed and the hara develops a nice warmth. But even then, the brain glows even warmer.
Many people repeat the popular belief that the brain is in the mind but the mind is not in the brain, citing those NDE stories where people recount marvelous adventures during the time they were clinically dead, with a flat line showing up on the screen that looks to me like an oscilliscope screen. Thus they conclude that the mind remains alive when the brain is dead. But the dead always revive so we don’t know if their mind would have continued to survive.
I don’t care a twit about those NDE stories and I refuse to buy the books that report such tales, making a lot of money for the dearly returned. I agree with Ajahn Brahm that there is no eternal retirement home in the sky, nor does eternal annihilation await us. There is no “us” to visit such a sky-home nor is there an “us” that can be blown out like a candle.
But we can feel the warm brain of the present moment and the gentle happiness that comes with it. We know that the warm brain has no owner; it is just awareness of the ever-changing, never-ending present moment.
Living Dharma: Teachings and Meditation Instructions from Twelve Theravada Masters
