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Cherry Blossom. Picking a path
lobster
Crusty Veteran
... from another thread:
... Ajahn Brahm and he doesn't use the term Theravada or Mahayana, rather the term Hahayana
As most of us have left other affiliations or perhaps enjoy a tight wheelie, we end up finding a direction and personal means ... Like so many new Buddhists, cultural cherry pickers, voyeurs and mean skill-fullers ...
What then is the nature of your path? Mine is called YinYana because it is influenced by Taoism (as is zen). It is not a school or tradition, because not even the founder was allowed to join ...
Still the body, focus the mind.
- Simplify your life
- Eat wholesome food
- Be kind
- Work diligently
- Study
- Be grateful
- Find wonder
- Stay healthy
- Encourage good company
- Develop integrity
- Practice discernment
- Curb excesses
- Support others
- Listen and observe
Long live the Dalit, unkosher, unthought and heresy ...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navayana
What is your/the Dharma?
2
Comments
Theravadan for me.....simple, straight forward and (arguably) the true words of the Buddha Shakyamuni.
Well arguing is how 'the elders', ousted the heretics and set up the first Buddhist colonies. I will stick with my cherryish dharma
https://yinyana.tumblr.com/post/35751898659
OM YA HA HUM
Zen appeals to me, due to its apparent simplicity. Within that simplicity, complexity lies ! I’m very much an appreciator of Thich Nhat Hanh and his approach and message. I maintain that his approach is appealing, beautiful and relevant, extremely so.
I’m gently dipping my toes into the city limits of Theravada, Samatha meditation and reading some Pali Canon stuff, as recommended by @Bunks 🙏😁
I guess I’m a cherry picker. Why not enjoy the smorgasbord. I think my hunger is showing.
Yes, there are very few types of Buddhism which don’t have some appeal for me. I try to be non-sectarian. Like @alex I guess I cherry pick though, because I don’t feel comfortable adhering to all of the rules and practices of any one tradition... i try to go along with the practices of whatever kind of Buddhism im enjoying today.
If pressed I’d have to say TNH’s kind of Buddhism appeals to me most.
I think cherry picking is a good way to start. You might find as time goes on that you settle on one tradition or teacher to focus on.
Hmm at times it's a garden AKA up the garden path...especially when the mind becomes charmed by its own thoughts...
ah ha maybe fasting or dietary slowing is a body based technique ...
There is no inspiration merely the will to change and progress beyond our animal karma.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_poisons
The first stage is being clear of our lesser/unhelpful tendencies. This includes the tendency to sloth, monkey spirituality (monkey see, monkey do), pig based progress (greed for experiences and progress) and chicken spirituality (cockerel running around crowing like a headless chicken). Doubtless there is a talking snake in there too ...
How to negate the three or more posing and poison animal natures within us?
Intellectual stilling. Reading dharma, attending lectures and knowing the nature of our cycling wheel of distraction. Low level stuff. Even the extreme monkey mind (or wer lobster with only limited neurons) can grasp and focus on an idea for a short while.
This leads into the eventual need and realization that direct knowing or practice is required. Here is where right concentration and effort are required. We now make an effort or commitment to clarifying and witnessing the swirling chaos of our mind, emotions and physical cravings.
What works/worked for you?
I always thought that the best answer to the Three Poisons was insight. My experience is that if you expose their workings and show the chain of consequences that leads from one thing to another, then they quite suddenly start evaporating, disappearing.
For example I have been working for a while on jealousy. I’ve always liked the look of Porsches, the cars, and when I saw one a while back I felt a stab of jealousy. Since then every so often I have been returning to that feeling, trying to disentangle it. Of course one root of it is Desire, I would like to have one myself, but there is also an aspect of ill-will to it, you tend not to be well inclined to the person who does possess what you would like to have.
I once posted up a list of the unwholesome mental states which came from the Tibetan tradition, though I’ve lost track of which thread exactly it was in. It’s not just the Three Poisons, though they are the most influential.
@Kerome - as you probably know, one of the four brahmaviharas is Mudito (mutual joy).
Delighting in the good fortune of others.
Here’s a meditation from Monday night on exactly this topic. Might be worth exploring.
Yes that’s right, and it’s a good counterpoint to ill-will. But I find it difficult to delight in the good fortune of others if they are not related to me in some way... I find it hard to see all people as my family, to take joy in their doing well.
The whole mindset of looking for some advantage for yourself, to see the world in terms of us-vs-them, is something that had settled quite deeply in me while working for large corporations which encourage competition. It keeps creeping back up on me.
But Mudito is a beautiful way to encourage the opposite... thank you for the guided meditation.
just remember: If your path is clear, someone has swept it.
When in doubt, always go with someone who can scat well over some fast jazz.
Zip bop daBAM hop pop bam
a vi ra hūṁ khaṁ
bop bop deBAM
oṁ vajradhātu vaṁ
Mudito (mutual joy) that @Bunks mentions ... endless ... just like multi-dimensional ducks and dukha
So.
Which cherry petal falls Your Way?
Over Cherry Blossoms
Over cherry blossoms
white clouds
over clouds
the deep sky
over cherry blossoms
over clouds
over the sky
I can climb on forever
once in spring
I with god
had a quiet talk.
- Shuntaro Tanikawa
One cherry blossom
I delight in giving it
My full attention
Better than
Feeding fear and anxiety
"what then is the nature of your path?"as the great easy-e from rap,would say,easy does it.the sumary of daozen.
Sometimes it seems we think we have chosen a path when the path has chosen us. Funny thing about the best paths - they are not straight and they change as we travel them.
Peace to all