Putting on the leather shoes...
Buddhadragon
Ehipassiko & Carpe DiemSamsara Veteran
One of my favourite quotes is by Chögyam Trungpa and it runs:
"It is easier to put on a pair of shoes than to wrap the earth in leather."
It is inspired from Shantideva's "The Way of the Bodhisattva."
"Harmful beings are everywhere like space itself.
Impossible it is that all should be suppressed.
But let this angry mind alone be overthrown,
And it's as though all foes had been subdued.To cover all the earth with sheets of leather-
Where could such amounts of skin be found?
But with the leather soles of just my shoes
It is as though I cover all the earth!
And thus the outer course of things
I myself cannot restrain.
But let me just restrain my mind,
And what is left to be restrained?"
(Bodhisattvacaryavatara 5:12-14)
Shall we then continue to work on ourselves and the way we respond to the world, or wait for the world to satisfy us and continue to react when things don't go our way?
Comments
Reminders are great for me - when I'm not too distracted and let 'em slip by me.
Nice one..."But let this angry mind alone be overthrown,
And it's as though all foes had been subdued."
I'm working on it.
Music also helps make the "rough places smooth:"
From the Great Guru of Song:
The video is not available here, @Nirvana.
Have I missed an enlightened arahant cum rapper?
"synthetic" leather shoes
"May I attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings."
No. I call him a guru, because he was extremely corpulent (as gurus traditionally are). His rendition of a certain movie piece is very beautiful. I'm surprised you cannot get it in Samsara Province
, as I can get it on Safari.
Sorry, didn't mean to get off-topic from shoe-leather (vegan or not). But let me conflate, as it were, two maxims (the first from Socrates and the second from Nietzsche):
An unexamined life is one not worth living. Life without Music would be a Mistake.
Sometimes retreating into self-examination totally without the tonic that music can bring is not helpful.
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
~ Friedrich Nietzsche
Very well and pertinently said.
The world and its most surprising occupants (people I think they are called) always seem to go in unexpected directions.
I find that satisfactory or rather I expect it. Just as I expect the world to be all things based on perception (samsara/heaven/hell realms/nirvana).
In the words of Bodhi Christ: 'These are my shoes, put these on in remembrance of me.' - eh wait, he did not say that ... was it, '... these are the silver linings in all new shoes ...'
[lobster rants off into incoherence]
The Middle Way for me is the internal and external, internalised and personalised. What this means is not being worn out by our walking the path but wearing out our selves until barefoot ...
I was taught the saying is "These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do. One of these days these boots are going to carry you when you are too tired to walk along the beach yourself."
In my ever-so-humble opinion, the best we can do is always, but always look to ourselves.
"Learn to respond, not to react"....
"Worrying is like sitting in a rocking-chair; it gives you something to do, but gets you nowhere"...
"The problem with closed-minded people, is that their mouths are always open"....
"Food for thought: Listen and Silent contain the same letters...."
and this:
Remembering that a thong, in the UK, is something quite different....
@federica in the US, too
Sandals or flip-flops for us. No uncomfortable under garments for this gal!
(Oh, you go Commando too....?!)
Good to see Brudda Iz here. The man had a golden voice.
He sings his own version of "over the rainbow", beautifully, delicately. It's very moving, along with the visuals.
He has albums out. You can look up Israel ("Iz") Kamakawiwo'ole, and see if there are any available through an online purveyor in your country. If not, there's always Amazon.
Sadly, he's dead.
Yes. He had some kind of physical disorder that resulted in the extreme obesity, and his eventual death. It's nice that his talent was recognized early enough to make numerous recordings, and that he was well-loved.
Aaaaw Fede you ruined it
No, I just added more to the imagination....
Thank you for the info, @Dakini