The middle path - a thought
Richdawson
Explorer
For a long time before I started walking the path of Buddhism I have had the realization that this was a world of opposites. Good – Bad, Happy – Sad, Up – Down etc. For anything we come across in this life there is an extreme on both ends. Even our view of life beyond this existence is framed by Heaven and Hell for most.
I started to think about this old thought again after listening to a lesson given by ZaChoeje Rinpoche on emotions (Can’t remember the exact title of the lesson - sorry) this past Sunday. Basically my take away from the lesson was that we need to make friends with our emotions. We should not fight with them; we should not let them control us. The middle ground / path. In this same lesson he mentioned that this was much the same as in certain meditations. We should acknowledge our thoughts during meditation not follow or be swept away by them. Again, the middle ground / path. In both cases we should treat them with loving kindness.
So since then, I am seeing the “middle path” everywhere, everything seems to be framed by it! I think to myself constantly now, what is the “middle path” in this situation? In a weird way it has put a smile on my face, and I feel happier.
So then I think back to my old realization, and I think of a line from the movie “Bruce Almighty” - “If someone prays for patience, you think that god gives them patience or does he give them the opportunity to be patient?”
Do you ever feel like this world is a testing ground for our existence? The perfect place to walk the “middle path” with the hopes we can transcend Samsara? Almost like a gift?
Comments
That's a good angle to approach things from, @Richdawson... It's kind of "well, I knew that already, but it's a new angle I hadn't considered...."
OP, I think it's always more a case of "opportunity" than "gifting" with patience. If a person is praying for or meditating on patience, or anything for that matter, it means they have begun an inner dialogue on the topic. This inner dialogue will either reveal a truth about that person, or it won't. If it does reveal a truth, then she or he will have given themself a gift. The opportunity is always there; it depends on how we use it.
This is similar to the idea of 'grace' in Christian Mysticism. So yes am familiar with the feeling.
Indeed.
What you describe is a kind of healthy dharma centring. Coming into balance. Eventually we can move to extremes of mind, without being unbalanced by them. Most of us go to an extreme and dwell there. That is hell dwelling suffering and ignorance. So really the ability to return to The Middle Way is practiced as a grounding balanced base ...
"We should acknowledge our thoughts during meditation not follow or be swept away by them."