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The plan
lobster
Crusty Veteran
Different traditions have a varied focus on idealised components. So for example the idealised imitator of Christ may strive for humility and gentleness. The dervish may move towards developing the 99 stations or attributes of Allah. The Facebook generation worship youth, hedonism and triviality.
Each to their own.
The resonance pattern or 'Middle Way' is the idealised pattern of Buddhism. I would suggest our overriding or core idealisations are wisdom and compassion/metta/bodhicitta. The attuning and resonance with a template also has a purpose and this is available in the dharma. The ultimate and idealised pattern followers are the Sangha, Enlightened beings and dedicated practitioners.
Is this a useful understanding of 'the plan'?
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Comments
I would suggest there are other 'overriding' factors, one of the preliminary and most significant, being detachment. (Which it should be noted, is not the same as being indifferent....)
Until we can learn that Detachment is what everything else hinges on, we can never attain complete Compassion and Wisdom. They play with one another, and to my mind, need to be bosom buddies....
Patience Loving kindness Awareness Nirvana
This is the simple PLAN I plan to keep following
I think you should join Thai Forest and do retreats at Amaravati, that would get your career back on track. Not sure what their pension plan is like though.
Is there a sutra which tells us what the Middle Way is? Buddhism is a rich and complex path which is not easy to explain... It is a journey you set out on, finding new teachings to test every so often... There is a balance between the understanding of suffering and how that motivates us, and positive qualities such as compassion...
One thing I have not yet come across in Buddhism is how to relate to love. It is too simple to say, it is an attachment, drop it immediately! Instead one has to learn to love without clinging, a lesson that Osho was fond of teaching. And once you start peeling away some of these layers on top of love, love reveals itself to be a beautiful thing.
I'm not sure there is a plan, other than developing our discernment so that we can find our way through the vast forest of sutra's, the plains full of other teacher's writings, the rivers of direct experience, past the bridge of wonders and on to the temple of realisation?
Indeed.
Detachment or more accurately 'non-attachment' is not indifference, disassociation or emotional escapism. That is for ascetics, fakirs and spiritual zombies ...
The Middle Way does not require the silly practices even the Pre-Buddha engaged in and counselled against ...
Inhuman 'spirituality' whilst useful to impress, entertain and occupy our senses is similar to the indulgent hedonism so beloved of our egoic monkey mind ...
"no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind: No form, sound, smell, taste, touch and no mind object. No eye realm until no realm of consciousness."
http://opcoa.st/0gP4k
Read here:
The entire score of the Buddha's teachings may be underpinned by the Love one should cultivate for one's fellow Man. The Four Sublime States speak of the enduring and unshakeable qualities one needs to cultivate.
The love you bear for a spouse or partner, is supported and underpinned by the 4 Noble Truths and the 8Fold Path.
If you (generically speaking) don't get this, after studying Buddhism, you need, in my opinion, to revise your View, and Effort....
That is the sutra about how the Buddha realised the Middle Way, but often in Buddhism the middle way is used as a reference for steering between two unhelpful extremes, not necessarily related to asceticism vs hedonism. It was this larger meaning that @lobster was referring to in the OP and I haven't seen expounded...
Even so, I would hold that some of Buddhism is an extreme, not a middle way. By following Buddhism we diverge from the natural path, are at pains to destroy clinging desires and negative emotional states, restrict our lives to avoid negative karma. That is a path which requires some dedication and sacrifice.
That you for the pointer to the Four Sublime States, I hadn't come across them before. As I have said before I am only a beginning Buddhist
I noticed that the nature of one's love does change when you take away clinging, you understand suffering, and so on. I'm not sure I would go so far as to call it "supported and underpinned by" the 4NT and the 8FP. Love to me is a different thing, and does not have so much to do with dhukka or with strictures on how to live one's life or direct ones effort.
We all have an individual way to make through the learning, and my understanding is not necessarily your understanding or internal reality. That is why we all individually "test the teachings", surely.
Love has EVERYTHING to do with dukkha, and is a pivotal point in the discussion of non-attachment.
Many people misunderstand the concept and believe they cannot, or should not love, as in, 'be in a relationship'. But dukkha is the primary consideration, because dukkha is the manifestation of dissatisfaction in the clinging and grasping, the desire and want...
Understanding is different to learning.
We have to learn, absorb, understand and accept the 4NT, and the 8Fold Path.
We have to LOVE it, breathe it and exist through it.
It's like seeing a picture of a wooden park bench with a notice on it: "Wet Paint".
First we see the picture.(Learn)
Then we actually visit the bench. (absorb)
Then we touch it lightly... (understand)
Then finally, we sit on it. (accept.)
Whether you see things differently or understand them differently, the wet paint bench, is still the wet paint bench.
Yes indeed.
When we start out we lean very much towards certainty, best practice, focussing our ideals and attention. This is the search for the core, Middle Way.
In a sense even if unbalanced BUT with the right attitude, we are always on the path. Temporarily crazed, intoxicated, lost, bedazzled people are not always able to 'test the teachings'. It is also true that parts of our being can be involved, rejecting, confused etc. We are temporary composite beings. Our Real Being or Buddha Nature is identical - being pure.
I'm surprised nobody pointed out that the Buddha defined the Middle Way with his 8-fold path in the Noble Truths. I think people tend to ignore such a complicated 8 step plan and want instead one simple, easy to digest secret that will unlock happiness and prosperity. In fact, that's the type of plan being sold to many people in "I'll show you the path to success if you pay for my lecture and buy my book" type ripoffs.
The plan in Zen, to the extent it has one (and yes, I see the old Master sneaking up behind me with the stick so I have to be careful what I say) is probably illustrated in the ox-herding pictures. To struggle with, subdue, and finally vanquish the passions of the mind until you understand there is nothing there to struggle against in the first place. But this is only the beginning of the entire 8-fold path as given by Buddha: Samma-Ditthi or Right View or vision or understanding. People who practice Zen should, if they have the right teacher, also understand the weakness of Zen along with its strengths. The weakness is we can get hung up on this perfect or right understanding. We tame one ox, but neglect the herd that has followed and tramples us in its path.
Thus we have even had to deal with Zen Masters who have used their position to sexually harass a woman student. The Master has right understanding, but ignored right emotion, the second of the paths in the 8-fold path, and to the extent he threatened or talked the woman into it, he ignored the right speech, and so on. So really, no matter what practice you have, the perscription by the Buddha remains unsurpassed.
The 8-Fold Path
Samma-Ditthi — Complete or Perfect Vision, also translated as right view or understanding. Vision of the nature of reality and the path of transformation.
Samma-Sankappa — Perfected Emotion or Aspiration, also translated as right thought or attitude. Liberating emotional intelligence in your life and acting from love and compassion. An informed heart and feeling mind that are free to practice letting go.
Samma-Vaca — Perfected or whole Speech. Also called right speech. Clear, truthful, uplifting and non-harmful communication.
Samma-Kammanta — Integral Action. Also called right action. An ethical foundation for life based on the principle of non-exploitation of oneself and others. The five precepts.
Samma-Ajiva — Proper Livelihood. Also called right livelihood. This is a livelihood based on correct action the ethical principal of non-exploitation. The basis of an Ideal society.
Samma-Vayama — Complete or Full Effort, Energy or Vitality. Also called right effort or diligence. Consciously directing our life energy to the transformative path of creative and healing action that fosters wholeness. Conscious evolution.
Samma-Sati — Complete or Thorough Awareness. Also called "right mindfulness". Developing awareness, "if you hold yourself dear watch yourself well". Levels of Awareness and mindfulness - of things, oneself, feelings, thought, people and Reality.
Samma-Samadhi — Full, Integral or Holistic Samadhi. This is often translated as concentration, meditation, absorption or one-pointedness of mind. None of these translations is adequate. Samadhi literally means to be fixed, absorbed in or established at one point, thus the first level of meaning is concentration when the mind is fixed on a single object. The second level of meaning goes further and represents the establishment, not just of the mind, but also of the whole being in various levels or modes of consciousness and awareness. This is Samadhi in the sense of enlightenment or Buddhahood.
(http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/8foldpath.htm)
But the path to realising that real being or Buddha nature is through minds and understandings that are sharply different. That is why - even when crazed, intoxicated, lost and bedazzled - one shouldn't leave off testing the teachings, finding what resonates and what doesn't. Sharpening that discernment is key.
My experience is that what is a tremendous insight for one person, can be a moment of "so what? It's obvious" to someone else. So even though the end point may be the same, the sequence of turnings one must take - the list of realisations to go through - may differ a lot. And the endpoint may be different... To realise my Buddha nature I may not need the same mind state as you.
I wasn't implying that there is not a connection - if you'll re-read my post I did say the nature of one's love is conditional on one's understanding of clinging or non-attachment - but rather that the topic of love is not directly addressed.
To the western mind that is a huge gaping hole in the teachings, because love is regarded as the most important attachment one will make, a life goal even. That probably dates back to the ideals of romantic love stemming from the Middle Ages and courtly love. Most people would say that it deserves an explicit instruction on how to cope with it, how to retain the positive aspects of relationships without clinging.
But then I think it depends on whom the Buddha wrote the path for. I understand he renounced before undertaking his spiritual search for enlightenment, leaving his wife and children behind. For renunciates this would be a non-issue.
@Kerome There is also the Sona Sutta.
To the western mind that is a huge gaping hole in the teachings, because love is regarded as the most important attachment one will make, a life goal even. That probably dates back to the ideals of romantic love stemming from the Middle Ages and courtly love. Most people would say that it deserves an explicit instruction on how to cope with it, how to retain the positive aspects of relationships without clinging.
Then if you seek an answer from an Eastern Religion, based on Western thinking, I think you are seeking from an unskilful position.
You cannot seek to modify - or manipulate - a 2,500-year-old Philosophy to suit the questions you are asking, within the mind-set you are asking them.
Buddhism is not malleable. You have to seek answers within the Philosophy, based on its philosophy, not yours.
The answers you seek are contained within the Buddha's teachings. It is for you to modify your perception, not for Buddhism to come up with a pat answer, responding to an alien mind-set ('alien' in the sense of foreign, or not naturalised......)
I'm not sure what angle you are commenting on... Renunciates are not always Renunciates. They're not Born renunciates.
I wasn't aware I was doing that. I merely indicated my understanding is a little different from yours, and should be allowed to be so as we are all fairly unique and trying to find a path through our experiences to self-realisation.
It would seem Buddhism is malleable, or at least has been so in the past. First there was the Pali Cannon, then Mahayana included various other teachings as being on par, Vajrayana joined the stream, and Zen put a different emphasis on things. At the moment there are directions like Secular Buddhism which are again doing something different with the tradition. And look at Won Buddhism in Korea.
Religious traditions do move with the times, and perhaps in adjusting to a western mind-set we will see some material being given emphasis which deals with the unique questions that the western mind has about Buddhism. Perhaps a more detailed examination on how to cope with love would be part of that.
I'm not saying I personally want to start putting together such a stream, that would be ahum "rather ambitious". My goal right now is to learn and experience as much of the tradition as I can
I was thinking that if the 8FP had been designed with renunciate practitioners in mind, then it makes sense for these things not to be addressed. Apologies for not being clear.
No, I don't think they necessarily were, because the Buddha constantly spoke to many people who would listen to him. Many admittedly chose to be monks... many of his sermons begin "Monks.. what do you think....?" But that's not to say that his instructions and teachings can be - shall I say - "cherry-picked".
There's no point listening to his words and thinking, "Oh, I don't have to do that, he's speaking to renunciates"... We might as well dismiss the virtual entire score of his Suttas, in that case....
His words resonate with Buddhists world-wide and apply just as appropriately to Renunciates and Non-Renunciates alike.
To be sure, there are ADDITIONAL Precepts we, as laypeople, do not need to adhere to. That said, most people take the first five as being of quotidian significance, and for themselves, voluntarily add the further following three, during "High-days" and Feast days...
The 8Fold Path is applicable, no matter who you are or what you do, Monk or no.
And, BtW, I dispute the malleability. Buddhism is constant. What other traditions choose to Modify, add to, or embellish with does not change the fundamental basic Pali canon, which is acknowledged to be the original teachings of the Buddha, written down, and the earliest written texts available.
Buddhism is not in and of itself, malleable. But people do so like sprinklins, caramel and chocolate sauce and crushed nuts....
Yes, Buddhism has adapted to many different cultures and religions down the centuries, so we have many different cultural expressions of Buddhadharma, most recently the emergence of Secular Buddhism. Isolating the "essence" of Buddhism from the various cultural trappings is not as straightforward as it might seem. You could say the central theme is liberation from suffering, but beyond that it is quite difficult to be definitive because there are so many different methods and approaches.
I LOVE - really LOVE - the diversity of responses! Talk about food for thought - !!
Iz plan!
I feel the template or dharma details were very well illustrated in @Cinorjer post. Some paths and traditions can be convoluted with many potential initial irrelevancies, shallow indulgences or worse.
(tsk, tsk - so judgemental ... must work harder on right speech) Buddhism again and again offers core principles and directions. It is very precise and focussed.
I would suggest that the 8 fold is recognisable and practiced or practical for developed mystics of other traditions. Buddhism offers it right at the beginning.
We haz good plan!
As an alternative to the 8-fold path there are the six perfections ( paramitas ).
http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Six_paramitas
The Dalai Lama even advises the Tibetan monks, presumably steeped in dharma lore, to continue working on the perfections.
But the other day I was writing short introductions to Zen and Vajrayana, and it was interesting what they said about the comparative length of the path to enlightenment. Supposedly relying on the paramitas takes many lifetimes, mindfulness and meditation is average, Zen can be quick if you have a breakthrough, and Vajrayana's methods are supposed to be "within one lifetime".
So we haz good plan, but iz quick plan?
It's funny that these various methods seem to always look for faster and more direct routes to enlightenment. Vajrayana particularly said these various meditations they offer clear one's karmic obstacles and lead to purification and perceiving the truth, but that doesn't mean that the one doing them doesn't need to adhere to the sutra's formulations on ethics or effort.
Which leaves me not quite clear on how to approach these things... Somehow being a karmic magician who cleanses himself through chants and meditations seems a shallower approach than truly learning and deeply absorbing the lessons of the sutra's around suffering.
From experience of practising in these schools I reckon a lot of this is just hype and self-promotion, marketing, claiming to be a superior product.
It's like car adverts, "Our vehicle will get you there quicker AND use less fuel!"
I remember when I was in Rigpa, people were given a huge list of daily practices to do, gabbling through mantra accumulations, reciting lots of stuff, though no time to actually meditate, very little explanation of what these practices were actually for, over-complicated. Most people simply couldn't manage it and got dispirited, some just gave up completely.
This 'beditation' is akin to 'yoga nidra'. @SpinyNorman is already using the pose.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/meditate-while-lying-down_us_579630cce4b02d5d5ed23a9e
For those working towards calm, or very stressed this might be a practical 'must try' option ...
Humph, she has pinched my idea, though admittedly I pinched it myself from one of the Buddha's holiday photos:
![](https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M79a0920d32d1b7792f9baebea7dac49do0&pid=15.1&P=0&w=237&h=159"")
Ah, those Buddha's on holiday - nothing else like them.
Peace to all
They never put their towels on the best poolside loungers to reserve them, either, do they?
Jolly good sports. Obviously (as @SpinyNorman often confirms) an English Gentleman....