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the Broken Buddhas
lobster
Crusty Veteran
As we all know we are all Buddhas but unaware of the perfectly flawed nature of samsara and our own being.
… so we imagine semi mythical, higher dimensional beings for inspiration. That is fine. Perfect Buddha, perfecting Sangha, ye all wise Dharma. We (well me certainly) never live up to those wondrous Ms/Mx/Mr/Shree Bodhi. Too human.
And yet for all the precept breaking, half hearted practice and other limited behaviour, I am no less a Buddha. I am sure I read that somewhere …
Does the Kalashnikov have Buddha Nature? Do Mu?
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Comments
Mikhail Kalashnikov whom the rifle was named after I would say yes, and as for the rifle Mu...
A broken Buddha statue is still a Buddha statue, it still carries some of the peace of the Buddha. Not so sure about statues of the Buddha carrying Kalashnikovs though…
In some understandings of dharma, 'it ain't broken' … so no fixing required.
Does that mean we do nothing? It is perhaps more correct to ask, 'what is useful and what is helpful?'.
I spend my time trying to break myself into manageable chunks. Relaxing them into nothing. Being ordinary.
Perhaps this will help.
“No thought is truthful, or carries a part of reality.”
— Adyashanti, The End of Your World
All thoughts are about models, like language an approach to the truth without actually being it. The name ‘glass of water’ cannot be carried to one’s lips and drunk, the label ‘red’ is not the actual colour. Like mathematics it is an abstraction which cannot truthfully describe reality. Mathematics says one plus one is two, reality says one is just unique, there is ultimately no two.
Once this is understood, your relationship to mind and to reality will change dramatically.
The mind also defines our sense of self. Once you realise that thoughts are basically untruthful, you realise that ‘thinking that you are something’ is akin to seeing an abstraction again, something representative of real being. You are not that which you think you are.
It is good to remember that a statue, a mandala, or any external symbol is only a point of focus, a means of centering, concentrating. No matter how sacred, they are only a means for you, me, us to draw that Buddha out which is residing within. We all have that innate nature of Buddha within - buried, covered in the muck and muck of our own arrogance, doubt and karmic baggage. As we reach out to teach, aid and enable others and reach in through the muck to draw out, enable and empower our Buddha within, in that awakening, that precious gem sparkles and shines lighting our life our world in the bright-soft glow of our true selves.
Peace to all
P.S.: The eagle is not bothered by the turkeys.
very Well said @Lionduck
we are
a Well of clarity/pure water of Life/Eagle Buddha(Garudha)/Bright-soft glow Light/
Etc. Whatever the precious symbol that empowers understanding.
The point of this thread was to realise the broken ruin, the samsara Buddha is our turnkey.
Quite simply we are the pain that cures, the broken buddha on the flaw/floor.
Nothing to do. Nowhere to go. Hear and there …
When we iz broke, we haz glue to fix.
One of the fixes is useful/updated dharma teachings
For example here is a way of understanding types of persona, either within us or others:
The six realms …
https://zenstudiespodcast.com/understanding-peoples-actions/
That's right.
For example when we find difficulties, we find a blessing or practice/teaching to unfold from it.
Examples of my recent glue:
https://mindworks.org/blog/what-is-mantra-meditation/