Hey!
Sorry I haven’t been in touch for a while. This kind of makes me feel like a jerk.
In fact, if I’m honest, I’ve been debating about keeping this newsletter going.
But then I thought, that would just make me an even bigger jerk. I mean, you signed up to RE:MIND for a reason. And I started it for a reason. Just because I’ve been a jerk and not contacted you in a while doesn’t mean I need to keep being the King of Jerks.
If you’re wondering what the hell I’m talking about, I’m referring to some bold and practical advice given by a 13th-century Zen master called Dogen.
Dogen said the key to understanding Buddhism and life is found in not being a jerk.
This is pretty elementary advice on paper. Putting it into practice, on the other hand, and actually not being a jerk, is about the most difficult thing anyone can commit to trying to do. Or not do. Or not be.
However, if you are able to not only follow this advice but put it into practice, then you basically become a Super Zen Master Buddha. Everything else in life will just flow effortlessly.
As you might have guessed, “don’t be a jerk” isn’t exactly what Dogen said. But it’s not far away. What he actually said was something more like "don’t do wrong things”.
The main point that Dogen was trying to make was that doing what’s right and not being a jerk isn’t a matter of sitting around discussing all the things we should and shouldn’t be doing.
It’s a matter of doing what’s right or not being a jerk.
In fact, outside of actually being a jerk, there is no such thing as a jerk. In other words, you can’t separate being a jerk from action. There may be jerk-like actions, but doing them doesn't make someone a jerk.
This is where things get a bit tricky.
Just as there’s no jerks outside of jerk-like action, there’s also no jerk-like actions outside of jerk-like actions. In other words, we can’t know what a jerk-like action is ahead of time. They either happen or they don’t in the moment that they happen, or they don’t happen. And you can be damn sure we know it when they do happen, often before they happen.
And this is really the essence of Dogen’s point. We can’t separate right or wrong action from an individual and the fresh, unique moment they are in.
Doing the right thing or doing the wrong thing, then, from the Buddhist view, isn’t something that’s set in stone. We all have the ability to make amends or to not be a jerk in this moment. Or the next moment. Or any moment thereafter.
Because life is only a series of moments. And we don’t live outside those moments. More than that, we can’t live outside these moments. These moments are us.
I struggled a bit to put Dogen’s philosophy into my words. But you can read more about how to not be a jerk here in my latest article on Medium.
I don’t think it will be a popular article, either. I’m not putting myself down. Most of Dogen’s work including his masterpiece, the Shobogenzo, from which this teaching comes, completely flopped when he was alive.
Ethics and morals and doing the right thing is not a sexy topic. And yet, it’s the missing bridge between putting knowledge into action. We have tonnes of knowledge. Yet not being able to act on what we know is right is arguably one of the biggest issues we face today.
If put into practice, not being a jerk is a radical and revolutionary way to live in the 21st century.
Let’s face it, it’s also what this time of year is all about. How can we live more from a place of knowing and acting on what is most beneficial for not just ourselves, but for everyone around us and the planet?
Although it may take a bit of work, Dogen has the answer.
Not being a jerk isn’t an intellectual understanding. It’s an act of living in and interacting with, or as, the world from moment to moment. That’s why Dogen’s teaching is so paradoxical. It’s not about you not being a jerk, as in you have to avoid doing jerky things. It’s about realizing that no jerks exist. And, therefore, that you are one with the universe.
If that sounds like a big jump to make. According to Dogen, it’s not. He believed that realizing no jerk exists outside of this moment and becoming one with the universe is one and the same thing.
It may not feel like the great epiphany we imagine it would be. But then again, we can imagine life to be all sorts of things. When all we actually have is this moment.
With that now said, in the pursuit of not being a jerk, I wish you all a wonderful holiday season! You will be hearing much more from me in the New Year. Hopefully with news about some exciting new live, online courses.
Warmly,
Joe
Thanks for reading!
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Thank you for this article. One of the jerk like things I do is not responding to wonderful articles like this one. Actually it is something I have been thinking about. You have just given me a bit of extra push. You indicated that you are considering creating an online course. I have a suggestion you might consider creating a course for insight timer. It is a great free app with lots of free meditation related stuff. Paid subscribers can follow online courses. I think you would be a good fit. I follow courses from many different teachers and would be quite happy to add you to those I follow. I would likely sign up for a course from you on Medium. However if you published on insight timer that changes to I will sign up.