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Buddha said anatta, non-self.
jll
Veteran
Buddha said anatta, non-self. Shakespeare said the world is a stage, everyone an actor. My teacher says we are all pretending to be something. Do you agree? What are you pretending to be?
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Twenty years of having his mother ask him where he is going,
Forty years of having his wife ask the same question;
and at the end, the mourners wondering too.
All the world's a stage (from As You Like It )
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything
The famous magician whose miraculous performances you have
thoroughly enjoyed on many an occasion, is back again in your
town. The news of his arrival has spread far and wide, and eager
crowds are now making for the large hall where he is due to perform
today. You too buy a ticket and manage to enter the hall. There is
already a scramble for seats, but you are not keen on securing one,
for you have entered with a different purpose in mind. You have had
a bright idea to outwit the magician -- to play a trick on him
yourself. So you cut your way through the thronging crowds and
stealthily creep into some concealed corner of the stage.
The magician enters the stage through the dark curtains, clad in
his pitchy black suit. Black boxes containing his secret stock-in-
trade are also now on the stage. The performance starts and from
your point of vantage you watch. And as you watch with sharp eyes
every movement of the magician, you now begin to discover, one
after the other, the secrets behind those 'breath taking' miracles of
your favourite magician. The hidden holes and false bottoms in his
magic boxes, the counterfeits and secret pockets, the hidden strings
and buttons that are pulled and pressed under the cover of the frantic
waving of his magic-wand. Very soon you see through his bag of
wily tricks so well, that you are able to discover his next 'surprise'
well in advance. Since you can now anticipate his 'surprises' they no
longer surprise you. His 'tricks' no longer deceive you. His 'magic'
has lost its magic for you. It no longer kindles your imagination as it
used to do in the past. The magician's 'hocus-pocus' and
'abracadabra' and his magic-wand now suggest nothing to you -- for
you know them now for what they are, that is : 'meaningless'. The
whole affair has now turned out to be an empty-show, one vast hoax
---- a treachery.
In utter disgust, you turn away from it to take a peep at the
audience below. And what a sight ! A sea of craned necks - eyes
that gaze in blind admiration; mouths that gape in dumb
appreciation; the 'Ah!'s and 'Oh!'s and whistles of speechless
amazement.
Truly, a strange admixture of tragedy and comedy which you
could have enjoyed instead of the magic-show, if not for the fact that
you yourself were in that same sorry plight on many a previous
occasion. Moved by compassion for this frenzied crowd, you almost
frown on the magician as he chuckles with a sinister grin at every
applause from his admirers. "How is it," you wonder, "that I have
been deceived so long by this crook of a magician ?" You are fed up
with all this and swear to yourself - "Never will I waste my time and
money on such empty shows, Nev-ver."
The show ends. Crowds are now making for the exit. You too slip
out of your hiding place unseen, and mingle with them. Once
outside, you spot a friend of yours whom you know as a keen admirer
of this magician. Not wishing to embarrass him with news of your
unusual experience, you try to avoid him, but you are too late. Soon
you find yourself listening to a vivid commentary on the magic
performance. Your friend is now reliving those moments of the
'bliss-of-ignorance' which he had just been enjoying. But before
long he discovers that you are mild and reserved today, and wonders
how you could be so, after such a marvellous show.
"Why? You were in the same hall all this time, weren't you?”
"Yes, I was."
"Then, were you sleeping?"
"Oh! No."
"You weren't watching closely, I suppose."
"No, no, I was watching it alright, may be I was watching
too closely."
"You say you were watching, but you don't seem to have seen
the show."
"No, I saw it. In fact I saw it so well that I missed the show!”
And then we act that out..
Which isn't to say that there aren't some brains that have different abilities, but I am saying to a certain extent we are acting out schemas that we have learned. Realization helps to free you from set limits so you can act fresh. Its not so much that you see doing or being, but just that is not your TRUE NATURE.
What do you think about what I wrote in reference to Shakespeare etc
First we have to break the spell.
Then we become a magician.
My teacher said the latter two in a dharma talk but don't think too much because I can't give the whole context.
pegembara, thanks for posting that story. It reminds me of that that feeling I get when I watch movies that are badly written, and yet loved by so many people...
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.059.nymo.html