Best Of
Re: Is the middle way comfortable?
I would say that, for many people, no it's not particularly comfortable as one often has to fight against the flow of worldly desires and expectations and do a fair amount of letting go of things that are seemingly pleasurable or personally beneficial in the short-term, but potentially harmful or not necessarily good in the long-term upon further reflection. Others, however, have a less difficult time with this, and find it easier to develop states of meditative joy and tranquility, so for them it may be in some sense comfortable. I suppose it all depends on where you are in life and your practice. It's a lot like the story of Jesus and the rich man, where the man who observes the basics as far as precepts go (refraining from killing, committing adultery, etc.) asks Jesus how to be perfect and Jesus tells him, "Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” And as the story goes, "At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions." For the rich man, the path is not comfortable because he is unable to let go of worldly things for the sake of something more profound. But for others, giving up such things is quite easy and they suffer much less. In essence, it's all relative. The middle way is neither inherently pleasant nor painful, comfortable or difficult. It really all depends on your frame of reference.
Jason
Re: All that can be said are beautiful lies…
@FleaMarket said:
A cloudless sky holds no secrets. It's the clouds on which the kingdoms of heaven rests.
Obfuscation of the full sight to take enjoyment in the distorted image. Bored minds make stuff up for fun.
All the world's a stage and the Buddha teaches us how to stop the show.But it's still on us to let go for keeps.
Excellent!
Today while watching how politics cause people to demonise one side, while glorifying another, or like in the current war (pick your side of the culling). To break such patterns and to see the entrapment of opinions and automatism. They say objetivity does not exist. That is true, having biases is human after all. To overcome them? To witness Reality clearly and neatly...
Well, that is part of the Buddha's path!
Well-said!
Kotishka
Re: All that can be said are beautiful lies…
The Tao that can be told is not the Tao.…
Which reminds me of this Zen poem...
"You can't catch hold of it
nor can you get rid of it
In not being able to get it, you get it
When you speak it's silent_
When you are silent it speaks"
Shoshin1
Re: All that can be said are beautiful lies…
A cloudless sky holds no secrets. It's the clouds on which the kingdoms of heaven rests.
Obfuscation of the full sight to take enjoyment in the distorted image. Bored minds make stuff up for fun.
All the world's a stage and the Buddha teaches us how to stop the show.
But it's still on us to let go for keeps.
Re: How to practise
Different schools of Buddhism have different rules, methods or approaches to practice.
Key to all - open mind, open heart, seeking mind.
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: All that can be said are beautiful lies…
Words and concepts - how easily they can become delusions. Call them lies or myths or metaphors - anything but the keys to the universe. Perhaps they are just tools - very useful if applied mindfully, apt to cause injury if swallowed.
Fosdick
All that can be said are beautiful lies…
“Truth cannot be said, so whatever can be said is going to be a beautiful lie — beautiful because it can lead towards truth.”
— Osho, ‘Beyond Enlightenment’
It seems to me that words are a game of continuously going around in circles. Consider a dictionary, every word in there is defined in terms of other words. There is a limited set of ideas expressed in those words, and we keep recycling them to make fascinating patterns which keep the mind busy.
The Tao that can be told is not the Tao. The ultimate truth cannot be expressed in words, and so what Osho says, that all you can say is a beautiful lie because it can point towards truth, seems to me to be so. It is in poetry, in evoking the indirect experience, that we can find hints at the truth.
The quest for expressing those things which come close to truth is also difficult… Osho once said “it happens when you try to explain something which is unexplainable. You bring it into the cage of language, of words — beautiful words, but the soul has disappeared.” It is better to house the living principle in your being, than to kill it by trying to explain it. I feel strongly that he is right.
Jeroen
Re: Our personal quotes
In zero reaction to whatever is occurring,
there is the non fabrication of what is.
this shining forth is exactly what is to be seen.
the seen is it's own nature, which is clear-light.
finally one can relax the whole subjective sphere. Ah!
into itself as itself. boundaries blur, and there is supreme rest without
ever denying the reality of otherness or selfness.
precisely this color, this sound, this smell, this sensation.
knowing itself, it liberates itself and is free itself.
nothing to produce, nothing to figure out, just this clear recognition.
taiyaki
Re: Clinging to reason and science
I think that makes sense @jeroen. Familiarity with views appears to become more a deficiency the more one is attached to the particular view over others.
If there is a workbench full of views and the favorite is chosen over and over, even if the job may not call for it, the job may still get done but being able to see beyond the favorite allows the other tools to to be learned and to work more efficiently and in harmony with each other. If wielding the view of reason and science does not provide a satisfactory solution, have you attempted wielding different views with the same level of conviction just to experiment?
Re: How to practise
You're getting a lot out of your journey so far but feel stuck. That's normal and you may be limiting yourself if you don't take the next step, whatever that step may be. That's a bit different than leading yourself astray but can sure feel that way.
I would echo everyone else who've commented so far. Learning to let go of the attachment to expectation, studying the suttas more, adding different forms of meditation, finding a physical branch of the Sangha, going on a retreat... Any of these can be a game changer.
When I get stuck, I look to the 8-fold path, see what needs improving and work from there. Should I plan a job change to line up with a beneficial livelihood? Is my intention skillful? Am I clinging to my views and hindering my growth? Do I need to practice how to focus and/or what to focus on?
Sometimes, what's missing in practice is the action that puts it to use. Once there is skillful resolve, things start to fall into place a bit more gracefully.
