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Attachment To Views: Can you laugh at yourself? your beliefs/practices?
BhikkhuJayasara
Bhikkhu Veteran
Firstly I'd like to say that this is in no means a thread meant to insult anyone or make fun of anyone's beliefs and practices. This is an exploration of attachment to views.
I think we can use this quote from Bhikkhu Bodhi to start out :
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_25.html
"The Buddha's teaching repeatedly cautions us about the dangers in clinging — in clinging to possessions, clinging to pleasures, clinging to people, clinging to views. The Buddha sounds such words of warning because he discerns in clinging a potent cause of suffering, and he thus advises us that the price we must pay to arrive at the "far shore" of liberation is the relinquishment of every type of clinging. In a move that at first glance may even seem self-destructive on the part of a religious founder, the Buddha says that we should not cling even to his teachings, that even the wholesome principles of the Dhamma have to be treated like the makeshift raft used to carry us across the stream."
So, can you laugh at yourself? can you laugh at your religion, your most closely held beliefs? Lets do a test.
How about these pictures
http://lonniesmalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/not1.jpg
Offended... or more easy to laugh at? The internet is rife with things like this making fun of every aspect of Christianity. These both crack me the heck up, and you have to know some of the back story to understand the joke as it were. Many of us who grew up with this but don't identify with it strongly anymore could probably laugh easily at this.
Now how about this?
you know how hard it is to find de-motivational buddhist posters... no fun! haha
what about grumpy cat?
Well I guess these two buddhist ones aren't "blasphemous" enough.. but you get my point..
and how about some interfaith comedy?
I think this last picture says a lot. Show me a wise monk or guru you know that doesn't have a quick smile or laugh...
I'm not quite sure what makes someone be able to laugh at themselves and their beliefs/practices vs someone who takes it very seriously and is easily offended. I think it has something to do with how attached we are to our views, but I'm certainly no scholar or guru to be able to see it clearly at this time.
So what do you think it's about? and also if you find any funny buddhist pictures please post
I think we can use this quote from Bhikkhu Bodhi to start out :
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_25.html
"The Buddha's teaching repeatedly cautions us about the dangers in clinging — in clinging to possessions, clinging to pleasures, clinging to people, clinging to views. The Buddha sounds such words of warning because he discerns in clinging a potent cause of suffering, and he thus advises us that the price we must pay to arrive at the "far shore" of liberation is the relinquishment of every type of clinging. In a move that at first glance may even seem self-destructive on the part of a religious founder, the Buddha says that we should not cling even to his teachings, that even the wholesome principles of the Dhamma have to be treated like the makeshift raft used to carry us across the stream."
So, can you laugh at yourself? can you laugh at your religion, your most closely held beliefs? Lets do a test.
How about these pictures
http://lonniesmalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/not1.jpg
Offended... or more easy to laugh at? The internet is rife with things like this making fun of every aspect of Christianity. These both crack me the heck up, and you have to know some of the back story to understand the joke as it were. Many of us who grew up with this but don't identify with it strongly anymore could probably laugh easily at this.
Now how about this?
you know how hard it is to find de-motivational buddhist posters... no fun! haha
what about grumpy cat?
Well I guess these two buddhist ones aren't "blasphemous" enough.. but you get my point..
and how about some interfaith comedy?
I think this last picture says a lot. Show me a wise monk or guru you know that doesn't have a quick smile or laugh...
I'm not quite sure what makes someone be able to laugh at themselves and their beliefs/practices vs someone who takes it very seriously and is easily offended. I think it has something to do with how attached we are to our views, but I'm certainly no scholar or guru to be able to see it clearly at this time.
So what do you think it's about? and also if you find any funny buddhist pictures please post
7
Comments
Light touch. Not too loose not too tight.
Now I'm wondering if these people don't have more wisdom than I was giving them credit for.
Emptiness is form and form is . . . gone . . .
:clap:
I don’t laugh at my beliefs/practices but rather at times with them when I undeniable come to know for a certain moment their profundity and how contrary to them I had been behaving.
One day at work it seemed that anything possibly needing my attention came up. I became frustrated and started complaining and said, "Lord the only thing I haven't had to do today is fix a toilet".
About 10 minutes later I had to use the restroom. When finished I flushed the toilet, but the chain inside the tank broke and of course I had to fix. However, I didn't get angry but just let go, started to smile with God and laugh. My burden then became light.