Please don't sell yourself short.

RichardH

Over the years in my practice as both a lay Theravadin and Zen Buddhist… there has been one very sad problem that afflicts so many Buddhists in both Sanghas, especially new Buddhists. It is not the delusion of Ënlightenment, it is the delusion of non-Enlightenment. This is more common unfortunately in my Lay Theravdin Sangha , with its deep deferring of spiritual authority to the mustard robe.. But it is also common in Zen. People feel diminished by our world, they seem to suffer a total lack of entitlement to their birthright... as this very world..... of awakening to their own nature…. This is facilitated by Buddhists who are happy to confirm the unenlightened status of the poor suffering mortals… while raising aloft the superhuman Enlightenment of a rare few….

How sad.. That which is closer to every person than there own bones, is denied them by presumptuous religiosity.

Lets talk about what "awakening to true nature" means… because it depends on the tradition… In zen, awakening is a very ordinary thing… even Buddhahood.. is not rare… maybe your garbage man is a Buddha?

In Theravada there is the Arahant… that is pretty rare it seems , and if you are a Theravadin totalist.. All other forms of Buddhist awakening is not the real thing..

My favourite Theravadin Buddhist teacher is Ajahn Sumedho… he teaches awakening NOW. He teaches the Four Noble Truths NOW.. When we practice and let go NOW ...we are awake NOW.

So please don’t sell yourself or other people short. You are not far from anything. I am not talking about fancying ourselves a Buddha, or Enlightened.. I am just saying don’t sell yourself short.. Just find a teacher.. get the support of sangha… stick with it ….. and practice awakening NOW…

　

Thanks.

Jeffrey

We have eyes and ears and sunlight and food and the earth. Trungpa said something like that. One of the realizations is that it's not that we have a right to be here. RAther we ARE here and we go from there.

taiyaki

"You only arrive at the other shore when you finally realize that there is no other shore. In other words, we make a journey to the "promised land," the other shore, and we have arrived when we realize that we were there all along. It is very paradoxical."

- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Lookingformyway

Thank you for this post as a barley week old Buddhist, this was nice to read

genkaku

One of the greatest horrors in Buddhist practice (and perhaps any serious spiritual persuasion) is the recognition that there is no one who can do the work that needs to be done if you -- you personally, without any assistance whatsoever -- won't do it.

I can remember sitting reading a book one day when this metaphorical roof fell in (as it was to fall in again and again as time passed). I was reading about some guru or other -- can't remember who -- when the thought jumped up as bright and sharp as a thumb tack: "If they (all those gurus and hermits and saints and nuns and monks) could do it, then so could I!" I was horrified by my own audacity (me, a lowly worm of a student; me, fraught with failures that stretched beyond the horizon; me, the person who loved loving these saints but insisted on keeping them as some calibrated distance ... a distance from which to dote on them). How much easier it would be to imagine someone ELSE was holy, someone ELSE was enlightened, someone ELSE was clear as a bell while I was dull as dish water. Things were much cozier that way. I could believe ... but I didn't have to put my own ass on the line.

This is not meant as a criticism, either of my own limping efforts or of anyone else's. It's just to say that I think that the comfort and protection offered by self-deprecation is just par for the course ... something that comes with the territory of spiritual effort. And it happens more than once, usually in different guises. It's just another bit of religious jimcrack, another bit of foolishness, another aspect to clarify and leave behind. It's really OK, playing the humble-pie game ... but the trick is just to keep practicing. Bow down to whatever golden idols you like ... but keep on practicing. Use the determination that anyone might possess (even while whining they lack determination) and let no one and nothing deter you. Sure it's scary to stand on your own two feet, but look how long you've already been standing on them. It's not really that hard, is it?

The practice is what takes people home, not the gaudy crucifixions or lawsy-lawsy resurrections; not the fierce and thin-lipped hermits sitting in dank caves; not the Buddhas blowing light in one direction or another; not our swooning praises; not our 'authentic' beliefs ... just plain old practice. Boring ... tantalizing... scary ... inviting...courageous ... cowardly ... PRACTICE.

end of rant

zenff

Hey, I wanted to refer to something which was in another thread; but I don’t see it anymore.

Anyways when we have fixed ideas of who or what we are that will obscure our vision, imho.
When these fixed ideas are making us feel small and insufficient; that’s harmful.
When we stick to the idea that enlightenment is something far away; is basically not for us right now; we (spiritually) commit suicide.

RichardH

Thank you for this post as a barley week old Buddhist, this was nice to read

IMHO finding a Sangha for support, taking refuge.. and settling into regular practice can bring a taste of non-grasping fairly quickly. It's no big deal..really, yet life changing.

AMH

I like this, thank you. I like to be audacious however I think we all struggle with saying that we have 'gotten'n somewhere and all that may mean to us and others.