Nyanaponika thera biography of michael

Kaup, Michael - Vasubandhu's Mind Only Verses,

"This is only perception." So begins the first verse of Vasubandhu's Viṃśatikākārikā, Twenty V more "This is only perception."  So begins the first verse of Vasubandhu's Viṃśatikākārikā, Twenty Verses on citta-mātra, mind-only, a text known for its arguments that all this, experience, perception, outer objects, everything, is only perception, vijñapti-mātra.  Yet, all this being perception, Vasubandhu teaches in the final verse of Triṃśikā-vijñapti-kārikā, Thirty Verses on Perception, that it is ultimately "the non-conceptual source, constant beneficial/ Ground, joyful, the liberation body, the dharma body of the great sage."  The verses that lead to this conclusion describe how non-dual consciousness evolves increasingly sophisticated concepts that lead it to misapprehend itself as self and object, grasper and grasped, and so the Triṃśikā begins: "Self and object, these varied figures of speech proliferate/ In the evolution of consciousness that occurs in a threefold manner./" 
These two texts, the Twenty Verses and the Thirty Verses on Perception, have at times been read and translated together as Vijñapti-Mātratā-Siddhi, Demonstration of Perception Only, and are regarded by many to serve as a distilled presentation of the Yogācāra view.  This work tells the tale of these two texts, which I refer to together as, the Mind Only Verses.  Biography provides a way to survey a range of interpretations, and the ways people have used the Mind Only Verses.  It also provides a frame of reference for including all voices that contribute to the text's life and for acknowledging those persons who enliven a text through their study of it.  This is helpful because the Mind Only Verses has received interpretation from academics, religious teachers, and those of varied affiliation.  The biography unfolds over time,

When I learned that “Tidying” is currently the subject of several best-selling books I remembered with pleasure that in the book The Vision of Dhamma by Nyanaponika Thera, one of the definitions that the Venerable Mahathera offers for Mindfulness is that it functions as a tidier of the mind. At the time, I thought of the word “tidy” as being quaint and probably reminiscent of the meticulous housekeeping of his German Jewish mother. I recall teaching about it and extending that furniture metaphor to saying that if I tidied my mind I would know what was in it and where it all was so I would not trip on anything and cause pain.

What I am thinking about now is that tidying, more than knowing what and where everything is, includes knowing what I no longer need to hold on to and what I am better off not having. And, it includes taking steps to disencumber.

De-cluttering closets and minds are both spiritual practices, interrelated of course, but one visible and one invisible.

My daughter Elizabeth, when I discussed my idea with her, said I should use the rubric WWTBGA, What Would The Buddha Give Away. Traditionally, Buddhist monks and nuns have only the bare necessities of clothing which they keep with them and rely on others for supplying food and medicine and other basic care items. I know that what Elizabeth means is using discriminating awareness to discern wise life choices. My friend MaryKay Sweeney who runs the homeless services of the county we live in once gave me a magnet reminder for my refrigerator door: “The sweater in your closet that you have not worn in a year is not yours. It belongs to a homeless person waiting for you to return it to them.” I think about how many pairs of socks I actually need given that I do laundry once a week. How many anything do I actually need? Do I need to keep the sweatshirt with the cute logo on it just because my adolescent child gave it to me as a Valentine gift 30 years ago? Do