Questioning, the Piety of Thinking

"For questioning is the piety of thinking."  --Martin Heidegger, 20th century Existentialist philosopher

In the mind of philosopher, Martin Heidegger, questioning was not anything without thinking. Thus in his view, a questioner is not a dissenter; rather they are listening. All questioning, he believed, gets started from initial listening, that which precedes and guides the questioner. Following this point, Heidegger delves into the spiritual, the pious, the holy. His thoughts concerns the piety of thinking itself.

Bringing the mind of Heidegger into the realm of the beginner, James C. Hart, along with some 25 others  translate the philosopher's work from his native German into English, or give knowledgeable commentary in their book, The Piety of Thinking. 
What, Heidegger pondered, does it mean to objectify?
He saw this social phenomenon in regarding living things as objects; objectifying them for use, as a thing.
What does it mean to think? 
In his view, thinking in some instances is not objectifying; it's instead an expression of a being which wills itself to be. For example, if all thinking were objective, then the creation  of art would be meaningless because it derives from personal thought which 'shows itself' in the work. 
Thus it is non-objective. On the other hand, we, by this view, can accept that thinking about the natural world and the sciences engages in objectivity. 
Thinking is "whatever shows itself however it shows itself."
It is the opposite of hiding, concealment.

Heidegger also then concerns himself with the meaning of speaking. What does it mean to speak? He asks all these deceptively simple questions and arrives at some startling answers. In speaking Heidegger insists one might use words as a tool to enforce the manipulation of others by words; one also may use words as humans do to "open up the world for them, to make a dwelling place in the world."

Finally another question Heidegger poses is that of thinking as a form of speaking. "Is all thinking a form of speaking and is all speaking a form of thinking? What does it mean to 'talk to yourself?" And he warns as early as the 1920s that scientific ways of thinking, objective speaking, threatens to overwhelm all other imaging in the world today. There are in his mind different needs in speaking and thinking, a piety of thinking for Heidegger is perhaps 'compliant to the covering and uncovering of truth.'

Mahayana Love*

"The Dharmakaya of the Buddha is always present, always alive... Vairochana is made of light, peace, flowers, joy..." -- Cultivating the Mind of Love, by T.N. Hanh

Mahayana teachings as presented by Suzuki in his book, Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism, are complicated and simple; they're essential, and overlooked; it is central to understanding, and experience by practitioners of all stripes. Please study Suzuki a bit for yourself.
These small essays cannot cover this topic. Suzuki declares that we are all Bodhisattvas. As Shakyamuni was a Bodhisattva, so we are all destined to become Bodhisattvas, when, in a certain sense, we understand that we are all one in the Dharmakaya.

The Dharmakaya manifests in us as Bodhi (knowledge-intelligence). As soon as we come to live in this love and intelligence, individual existences are no hindrance to the "turning over" of one's spiritual merits to the service of others. Abandon, says Suzuki, "our selfish thoughts of entering into a Nirvana that is conceived to extinguish the fire of hearts, leaving only cold ashes of intellect... have sympathy for all, turn over your merits, however small, to the benefit and happiness of others."

This spirit of universal love prevails in all Mahayanism. Nagar-juna in his writings on the Bodhichitta gives a view of the Bodhisattva. He says, "the essential nature of all Bodhisattvas is a great, loving heart... therefore do not cling to the blissful taste produced by the varied methods of mental tranquility (dhyana), do not covet fruit of meritorious deeds... the Bhodisattvas, who inspired with great energy, mingle with birth and death; they are like Lotus flowers who rise out of the mire, yet remain uncontaminated.

The Bodhichitta, or intelligence-heart, like the Dharmakaya is essentially love and intelligence (karuna and prajna), Suzuki compares the Christ, seeing him to be a Bodhisattva, a Buddha. He says in the West, Jesus, the Christ is perhaps the best, most accessible example available. He writes, "one who understands the nature of bodhichitta sees everything with a loving heart, for love is the essence of the Bodhichitta. The Bodhichitta is the highest essence. The Bodhichitta abiding in the heart of sameness (samata) creates individual means of salvation (upaya).

The Bodhichitta is naturally present in the hearts of all beings. He is a reflex of the Dharmakaya, he has no compulsions; he is free from beginning to end. He has no impurities nor prejudice. He is present in the heart of all beings, like the moon, shining with silvery light on clear, cloudless nights, reflected then in every drop, every mass of water on the earth, reflected like so many stars descended on earth.

* "And I give my gratitude to my first teacher of all things, my friend, Liang-Hui Mei. From her loving presence in my life, a whole world, way, and language was opened to me. I know she is teaching still.