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A Buddhist view of Wallenda

vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
So, Nick Wallenda successfully crossed the Little Grand Canyon via high wire.

But I kept wondering what the Buddhist view of such behavior might be.

Comments

  • I thought it was all Christianity, re: YES JESUS.

    At least that's what I gathered from Twitter. I had no idea what Skywire was until about 2 minutes ago.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Yes, he did frequently praise Jesus/God.

    But my question is how a Buddhist should view the daredevil aspect of it.
  • AmeliaAmelia Veteran
    It's something to do. No need for a Buddhist opinion on it. If one wants to be a daredevil, one can be. Each person has a different situation going on in his or her own life and that is what determines whether or not someone is fit to partake in risky activity.
    Jeffrey
  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator
    edited June 2013
    vinlyn said:

    But my question is how a Buddhist should view the daredevil aspect of it.

    Personally, I don't see why a Buddhist, or anyone else for that matter, needs to have a view.
    Invincible_summerlobsterCitta
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    I brought up a similar topic a few months ago, and it seems that people argued that the adrenaline rush and notoriety could be avenues for attachment.
  • “But I kept wondering what the Buddhist view of such behavior might be.”
    I do not know what the Buddhist view of the behavior is however there are Buddhist psychological techniques/aspects, for lack of a better word, that would be useful in accomplishing such a feat.

    Concepts such as one pointed focus awareness or concentration, mindfulness of being aware of all the complex variables that are constantly shifting, the ability to be non-attached to the outcome, to be aware of only the presence of now, the disappearance of the distinction between the person walking the rope in the rope, but there is no distinction between good or bad…or one would not want to use the judgment of good or bad, and etc. There is also the preparation of the body, of the emotions and of the mind. For example, when I snowboard I use a lot of techniques that I learned from meditation in my studies of Buddhism. When I’m blasting down the hill at 50 mph or dropping a big/steep line everything disappears and there’s only the moment. For me there’s a lot of similarities between snowboarding and Buddhism.
    riverflowperson
  • CittaCitta Veteran
    edited June 2013
    Jason said:

    vinlyn said:

    But my question is how a Buddhist should view the daredevil aspect of it.

    Personally, I don't see why a Buddhist, or anyone else for that matter, needs to have a view.
    Quite...there is not a 'Buddhist' view on many many issues. There are the individual views of those who align themselves to Buddhism, and often those individual views differ widely.
    There is no pope in Buddhism. No central committee.
  • I viewed him as having a good sense of balance. I thought it was weird that he chose to wear blue jeans. :-/
  • SillyPuttySillyPutty Veteran
    edited June 2013
    vinlyn said:

    Yes, he did frequently praise Jesus/God.

    But my question is how a Buddhist should view the daredevil aspect of it.

    I never claimed my jokes made sense the first time around. (Or even the 2nd or 10th.) :D
  • aMattaMatt Veteran
    vinlyn said:


    But my question is how a Buddhist should view the daredevil aspect of it.

    My teacher said when we find our selves constructing a view of someone, to relax and not assume or look for the karma of the moment. Said differently, we accept that Bodhisattvas act in such a way that reveals our grasping at views.

    The "daredevil aspect" is our own construction, we have no idea what the experience was like on his side. Better to examine the assumptions on our side, because those we did experience in such and such a way.
  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator
    @mfranzdorf that was my first thought too, why jeans!?

    As far as the question goes, I think sometimes we take things too far in asking "what would a Buddhist do?" Unless you are sitting on the fence of "should I walk the highwire in the Grand Canyon, or not??" I don't think it really matters what a Buddhist perspective is. It all depends on the reasons in doing so. I think it could be an attachment, or it could not be. Anyhow, I just think it's too easy to start looking at the world in a way that makes it more complicated than it needs to be. Observing something happening doesn't always mean having to question what Buddhist perspective is, I don't think anyhow.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    I'm surprised no one has picked up on the "creating suffering" aspect of it.

    His small children were watching. Had he fallen, they would have watched their father fall to his certain death, they would have become fatherless, the wife would have become a widow, and the family would have been deprived of the father's income.

    As far as the responses about why should there be a Buddhist view of the issue...well, the same could be said about a huge percentage of our threads here.
    riverflowmaartenInvincible_summer
  • CittaCitta Veteran
    Which is exactly why my own response to those threads is often one word... 'papanca'... :)
  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator
    That's true, about the potential for suffering, but there is plenty of that on a day-to-day basis when we drive around in cars with our kids with us. I know that is used a lot, but it's good to keep in mind (for me anyhow.) If all our decisions are made from a point of view of what could possibly happen, we'd never leave the house. To most of us, such an act might seem foolish, but he is pretty highly trained and experienced, in a similar fashion as race car drivers, stunt actors, and so on. They all take on similar risks with their families watching.

    As for the "what would Buddhists do" Yes, of course many threads are similar. I suppose it just depends where our thoughts and practice happen to be as far as what catches our eye at any given moment. I never gave it a second thought because other than the fact that it is on tv, it did not seem any riskier than any other # of things, from a suffering potentiality point of view. I wasn't trying to make light of your question, I was just thinking aloud from my perspective because sometimes I find myself thinking too seriously, or over-analyzing things too far when I don't need to. You know how when you buy a new car, you suddenly see the same type of car all over the road? I get the same impression sometimes about Buddhism (or any other topic) where when we're entrenched in it it's hard not to analyze every single thing from that point of view. I don't know what I'm really trying to say, lol, other than sometimes for me, I think it's ok just to let something be without feeling the need to analyze it from a Buddhist perspective. But I'm sure there are plenty of things I analyze that others would not as well, I didn't mean to imply that doing so was wrong.
    MaryAnne
  • wrathfuldeitywrathfuldeity Veteran
    edited June 2013
    or he was a sob with big life insurance and if he fell...liberation. How about the cable he was walking on was a mile wide in his mind or maybe teaching his family we are hanging on by a thread...of course this is all just mindlessness
  • My first reaction was that this didn't really provide anything for other human beings, beside some possible entertainment, and like @vinlyn mentioned, if he fell he would have actually caused much harm. I believe that his own father fell to his death while his son watched.

    Then again, I don't want to be too uptight about something like this because I suppose it has a place in modern society, just like motorcycle stunts or car racing. And this kind of daredevil display can be very inspiring to others. I think it shows the potential of human beings to perform physical feats like this.
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    edited June 2013
    Back in the 70s, I think, a French tightrope walker spent 45 minutes walking back and forth between the World Trade Center towers. In one of the Mind and Life conferences with HHDL they spent quite a bit of time talking about this act. All they really talked about was the mindfulness aspect of it. The ethical aspect never really came up, I don't know if it was because of the nature of the discussion or if it just wasn't a big deal to anyone there.
  • footiamfootiam Veteran
    vinlyn said:

    So, Nick Wallenda successfully crossed the Little Grand Canyon via high wire.

    But I kept wondering what the Buddhist view of such behavior might be.

    It's okay since he has not broken any of the precepts or harm anyone. But, I doubt that would lead to enligtenment!

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