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The four ways of taming beings
Jeffrey
Veteran
A dharma friend shared this with me:
"The 4 Ways of Taming Beings are, firstly, to give beings what they most want or need (eg. Food if they are hungry, protection if they are in danger, Dharma teaching if they are open to them). The second is to give in a way that appeals to the person concerned. So you give the kind of food a person likes or the kind of protection that comforts them or the teachings that they are attracted by and so on. The third is to give in a way that they really benefit from it. For example if you give food, then you give food that they can digest in quantities that suit them and over a long enough period of time for it to benefit them. The same goes for Dharma teachings. You don’t just decide that a certain teaching is very good so you hand it out in its full form to everyone even if some people find that too much or isn’t working and so on. Finally you have to consider the way of thinking of those you are giving to. It may be that you are giving what they want and it’s in a way that appeals to them and it’s in perfect quantities and perfect in every way. However, their way of thinking might actually be such that what you give them causes them more harm than good."
~anon
"The 4 Ways of Taming Beings are, firstly, to give beings what they most want or need (eg. Food if they are hungry, protection if they are in danger, Dharma teaching if they are open to them). The second is to give in a way that appeals to the person concerned. So you give the kind of food a person likes or the kind of protection that comforts them or the teachings that they are attracted by and so on. The third is to give in a way that they really benefit from it. For example if you give food, then you give food that they can digest in quantities that suit them and over a long enough period of time for it to benefit them. The same goes for Dharma teachings. You don’t just decide that a certain teaching is very good so you hand it out in its full form to everyone even if some people find that too much or isn’t working and so on. Finally you have to consider the way of thinking of those you are giving to. It may be that you are giving what they want and it’s in a way that appeals to them and it’s in perfect quantities and perfect in every way. However, their way of thinking might actually be such that what you give them causes them more harm than good."
~anon
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one foot at a time!