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Tearooms? Never say that to a gay man! Either he'll get offended or disappear. Just so you know, I would say "They don't know what they are saying" and smile politely.
Rev,
What do you mean by a rubber? For your shoes?
As you haven't noticed, we Americans are quite an uptight bunch. If you are relaxed about a number of things, you're considered wierd like me. I'm considered a liberal because I think it's everyone's right to do what they want as long as they aren't hurting someone else. Or if they are into a little pain, okay.
But I would have been smart enough to ask you what you meant as you have different ways of naming things than Americans. We really aren't a bad group of people, we just don't know when to mind our own darn business.
I know, and I do like Americans, for all that I take the mickey out of them. I find many Americans very friendly and outgoing. Now the Belgians on the other hand...
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Rev,
What do you mean by a rubber? For your shoes?
As you haven't noticed, we Americans are quite an uptight bunch. If you are relaxed about a number of things, you're considered wierd like me. I'm considered a liberal because I think it's everyone's right to do what they want as long as they aren't hurting someone else. Or if they are into a little pain, okay.
But I would have been smart enough to ask you what you meant as you have different ways of naming things than Americans. We really aren't a bad group of people, we just don't know when to mind our own darn business.
Rubber = eraser, like for rubbing out pencil.
And I have always found Americans so friendly and welcoming, even if they do examine the contents of your supermarket trolley and then ask you about it - I find that quite refreshing actually.
My biggest doo doo was on a plane when the stewardess asked me if I wanted a drink and I said Tomaarto Juice (being a snotty Brit) and she said "Yewannawot?". This went on for some time until the Old Feller who speaks Yank fluently said "De Laydee wanna Maydojooz" Collapse of stout party!
I was brought up to say tomaahto, not tomayto. I was always told that only Americans pronounce it that way. And now, lo and behold, I'm the ONLY dam Canadian in the country who says tomaahto! My parents were just cruel. LOL
"Now the Belgians on the other hand..."
Don't you even DARE...I WORSHIP the Belgians and their chocolate making artistry. Absolutely WORSHIP. I'll have NONE of that! I shall defend them to the death. A duel?
I can't BELIEVE you brought the subject of chocolate up again...
What's the topic of this thread? I can't remember...
(O.K...I'm leaving, I'm leaving...)
(P.S. Genryu, I'm still trying to figure out your Latin phrase. All I have so far is "You have, simple, erudition, if this...)
Tearooms? Never say that to a gay man! Either he'll get offended or disappear. Just so you know, I would say "They don't know what they are saying" and smile politely.
The same USian friend was equally puzzled when directed to the "cottage" at Hyde Park Corner (a favourite of Joe Orton's).
For anyone interested in an excellent study of anonymous sex in public p;aces, you might like to look at Laud Humphreys' Tearoom Trade, although I imagine that, being pre-HIV (1975), behaviour has significantly altered: Tearoom Trade
I was brought up to say tomaahto, not tomayto. I was always told that only Americans pronounce it that way. And now, lo and behold, I'm the ONLY dam Canadian in the country who says tomaahto! My parents were just cruel. LOL
"Now the Belgians on the other hand..."
Don't you even DARE...I WORSHIP the Belgians and their chocolate making artistry. Absolutely WORSHIP. I'll have NONE of that! I shall defend them to the death. A duel?
I can't BELIEVE you brought the subject of chocolate up again...
What's the topic of this thread? I can't remember...
(O.K...I'm leaving, I'm leaving...)
(P.S. Genryu, I'm still trying to figure out your Latin phrase. All I have so far is "You have, simple, erudition, if this...)
OK, I agree about the chocolate. Which of course why Belgium should be nationalised. The phrase translates as, "If you can read this, you're over educated."
I thought it was "education", damn. But where I got "simple" from I don't know. (And that last sentence should tell you that I'm clearly under educated.)
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited January 2006
I have been watching things develop on this forum over the past week or so, and whenever I feel a bit out of sorts, I take Refuge, once again, and check to see my progress on the Eightfold Path... What better Thread to do this on.... ?
There are testing times... Both on a personal level, because Nick and I are "girding our loins" for a change to our circumastances, which hopefully, will improve things for us (they surely cannot get any worse!) and on a level regarding this Forum...
It came to me that things are evolving... and nothing stays the same or stands still... and yet, we are very rarely adequately prepared for this.... faced with an unsettled existence, where previously all had been calm and delightful, we are required to quell the rising panic, when we see the thing we considered to be our rock and anchor, experiencing de-stabilisation....
And instead of yearning to have things as they were... instead of permitting our desire for familiarity to root us even deeper into Attachment and Clinging, perhaps we need to excercise Right View, and to see things as they really are.....
To accept - to welcome! - this tremor, and to embrace it as a reality check.... to greet it as a friend, who has been absent for a while, and has returned like a breath of fresh air.
Something to sweep the cobwebs of complacency from our stagnant Minds, and breeze in, complete with broom, feather duster and bin-liners!
The Winds of Change....
Who's on the Path with me?
CHOCOLATE??? Did somebody say CHOCOLATE? I DISTINCTLY heard somebody say chocolate!
Yeah, that's the truth, Fede. Complacency is not the right place to be. (Hey, that rhymed!) I'm with you. I embrace change and I let go of stagnancy. (Hey, I thought I was making up that word but my spell check alarm didn't go off.) Change really is good. So's a kick in the pants, sometimes. A few ruffled feathers and a little excitement doesn't have to be a bad thing at all. It's an adventure, isn't it? I do love a reality check on a regular basis. I NEED one, as well. I never want to stick my head in the sand. Arm in arm with my sangha I say bring it on!
We're together on thid one!
A simple example I can give is here at work...
Many of the teachers on faculty have been here for 15+ years (I have been for 8).
There is a group that refuses to try anything new!!! Their motto is "If it ain't broke..."
This attitude can be easy to fall into BUT, how about someting NEW and REFRESHING!!!!?
At a personal level, I'd like to say that I embrace change. But sometimes it can be heartbreaking. I have learned to immediately think to myself, "For every positive there is a negative, now LOOK for it!"
(Creeeeeeaaaaaaaaak, thump - sound of very large wicker basket being, none-too-gently put on the ground)
Right - thermos of tea, ditto coffee, family pack of mars bars, fizzy water, hard boiled eggs, baby tomaaaartoes and several sticks of French bread. Where we off then?
So I propose that maybe, for the next Eight Weeks, we Open a thread per week on each of the Eight 'spokes of the Wheel'.
We already have a Stickied Thread discussing Books, so how about Starting a Thread on Right View, coming in, posting what your opinion or interpretation of this Discourse is, and giving examples of how, During This Week, you intend to implement this aspect of the Path.
There are a number of things non-aryans don't understand about the aryan eighitfold path. The essential facet they don't understand is that the path is not intended for common people which in Sanskirt is prithagjana.
Who is the prithagjana? He does not understand as it really is that the Mind (citta) is radiant, with the result that there is for him no cultivation (bhâvanâ) of that radiant Mind.
According to the Awakening of Faith prithagjana are said not to be enlightened because they have had a continuous stream of deluded thoughts and have never been freed from such deluded thoughts.
Perhaps this can be illustrated by this simile. When the aryan and the prithagjana are in darkness, they seem no different. But when the light appears, the aryan sees and the prithagjana ever remains blind.
As regards Perfect Insight (samyak drishti) of the eightfold path, one who is an aryan has insight into the Dharmakaya of the Tathagata according to Bhavaviveka's Karatala-ratna.
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Yeah, that's the truth, Fede. Complacency is not the right place to be. (Hey, that rhymed!) I'm with you. I embrace change and I let go of stagnancy. (Hey, I thought I was making up that word but my spell check alarm didn't go off.) Change really is good. So's a kick in the pants, sometimes. A few ruffled feathers and a little excitement doesn't have to be a bad thing at all. It's an adventure, isn't it? I do love a reality check on a regular basis. I NEED one, as well. I never want to stick my head in the sand. Arm in arm with my sangha I say bring it on!
There is so much to do, so much to learn and so much to appreciate. How much nicer it is to do it all with like-minded people from whom one can learn with pleasure! The challenges and obstacles to practise are made so much easier to meet head on, or if all else fails, to circumvent. If the Mountain will not come to Mahommed....
There are a number of things non-aryans don't understand about the aryan eighitfold path. The essential facet they don't understand is that the path is not intended for common people which in Sanskirt is prithagjana.
Who is the prithagjana? He does not understand as it really is that the Mind (citta) is radiant, with the result that there is for him no cultivation (bhâvanâ) of that radiant Mind.
According to the Awakening of Faith prithagjana are said not to be enlightened because they have had a continuous stream of deluded thoughts and have never been freed from such deluded thoughts.
Perhaps this can be illustrated by this simile. When the aryan and the prithagjana are in darkness, they seem no different. But when the light appears, the aryan sees and the prithagjana ever remains blind.
As regards Perfect Insight (samyak drishti) of the eightfold path, one who is an aryan has insight into the Dharmakaya of the Tathagata according to Bhavaviveka's Karatala-ratna.
Can you develop this a bit further? It is my poor understanding that the Tathagata taught, in the Third and Fourth Aryan Truths, that there is a way for anyone who perseveres on the Path.
In your reading, how does the aryan/prithagjana distinction arise? Is this the outcome of karma? Is it unchangeable or is it progressive? Can the prithagjana become aryan, or the aryan prithagjana?
How does this affect your own practice and experience?
Can you develop this a bit further? It is my poor understanding that the Tathagata taught, in the Third and Fourth Aryan Truths, that there is a way for anyone who perseveres on the Path.
In your reading, how does the aryan/prithagjana distinction arise? Is this the outcome of karma? Is it unchangeable or is it progressive? Can the prithagjana become aryan, or the aryan prithagjana?
How does this affect your own practice and experience?
An excellent book on the aryan/prithagjana (Pali, ariyan/puthujjana) question has to be Peter Masefield's book, Divine Revelation in Pali Buddhism. It is a must for the serious student.
Yes, the prithagjana can become an aryan and enter the triple gem sangha of holy persons. It takes some doing. The basic teaching of becoming an aryan is to awaken to that which animates our body which is entirely spiritual and immaterial. Prithagjanas can't detect it. They even boast there is no such thing (I did it once too...lol). But the aryan is directly aware of it. Over the years it grows as the aryan cultivates it. As strange as it souds, the more of you is out of the body than in the body. It is a deathless state of being since death is only bodily and material.
I have spent my life collecting various stories, rationalisations and explanations of the 'mysterious'. It would be irrational not to learn more from Mujaku et al.
This does not mean that I like the hectoring tone that they adopt or their use of personal insult. These are not, in my experience, the behaviours of effective teachers. Until I discover for myself dissonances in what they assert, or get bored of sifting the bits of gold from the mire of slung mud, I shall read what they say, just as I read all the other posts.
I should add that I am far from being so interested in their "hermeneutic" (method of reading) of the Dharma or in their showing off that, should they be banned, that I should seek them out to learn more. But, then, I do wonder if they really want to teach or if they only want to parade their car-boot-sale of arcane texts, commentaries and variant translations.
This is unfortunate because their exegesis may represent a patch of the Buddha's chögu and I should like to learn more.
At Savatthi. There the Blessed One said: "Monks, from an inconstruable beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, although beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on.
"There comes a time when the great ocean evaporates, dries up, & does not exist. But for beings — as long as they are hindered by ignorance, fettered by craving, transmigrating & wandering on — I don't say that there is an end of suffering & stress.
"There comes a time when Sineru, king of mountains, is consumed with flame, is destroyed, & does not exist. But for beings — as long as they are hindered by ignorance, fettered by craving, transmigrating & wandering on — I don't say that there is an end of suffering & stress.
"There comes a time when the great earth is consumed with flame, is destroyed, & does not exist. But for beings — as long as they are hindered by ignorance, fettered by craving, transmigrating & wandering on — I don't say that there is an end of suffering & stress.
"Just as a dog, tied by a leash to a post or stake, keeps running around and circling around that very post or stake; in the same way, an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person — who has no regard for noble ones, is not well-versed or disciplined in their Dhamma; who has no regard for people of integrity, is not well-versed or disciplined in their Dhamma — assumes form to be the self, or the self as possessing form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form.
"He assumes feeling to be the self...
"He assumes perception to be the self...
"He assumes (mental) fabrications to be the self...
"He assumes consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in consciousness.
"He keeps running around and circling around that very form... that very feeling... that very perception... those very fabrications... that very consciousness. He is not set loose from form, not set loose from feeling... from perception... from fabrications... not set loose from consciousness. He is not set loose from birth, aging, & death; from sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs. He is not set loose, I tell you, from suffering & stress.
"But a well-instructed, disciple of the noble ones — who has regard for noble ones, is well-versed & disciplined in their Dhamma; who has regard for people of integrity, is well-versed & disciplined in their Dhamma — doesn't assume form to be the self, or the self as possessing form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form.
"He doesn't assume feeling to be the self...
"He doesn't assume perception to be the self...
"He doesn't assume fabrications to be the self...
"He doesn't assume consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in consciousness.
"He doesn't run around or circle around that very form... that very feeling... that very perception... those very fabrications... that very consciousness. He is set loose from form, set loose from feeling... from perception... from fabrications... set loose from consciousness. He is set loose from birth, aging, & death; from sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs. He is set loose, I tell you, from suffering & stress.
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. There he said to the monks: "Monks, if wanderers who are members of other sects should ask you, 'What, friend, are the prerequisites for the development of the wings to self-awakening?' how would you answer them?"
"For us, lord, the teachings have the Blessed One as their root, their guide, & their arbitrator. It would be good if the Blessed One himself would explicate the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from the Blessed One, the monks will remember it."
"In that case, monks, listen & pay close attention. I will speak."
"As you say, lord," the monks responded.
The Blessed One said, "If wanderers who are members of other sects should ask you, 'What, friend, are the prerequisites for the development of the wings to self-awakening?' you should answer, 'There is the case where a monk has admirable friends, admirable companions, admirable comrades. This is the first prerequisite for the development of the wings to self-awakening.
"'Furthermore, the monk is virtuous. He dwells restrained in accordance with the Patimokkha, consummate in his behavior & sphere of activity. He trains himself, having undertaken the training rules, seeing danger in the slightest faults. This is the second prerequisite for the development of the wings to self-awakening.
"'Furthermore, he gets to hear at will, easily & without difficulty, talk that is truly sobering & conducive to the opening of awareness, i.e., talk on modesty, on contentment, on seclusion, on non-entanglement, on arousing persistence, on virtue, on concentration, on discernment, on release, and on the knowledge & vision of release. This is the third prerequisite for the development of the wings to self-awakening.
"'Furthermore, he keeps his persistence aroused for abandoning unskillful mental qualities and for taking on skillful mental qualities. He is steadfast, solid in his effort, not shirking his duties with regard to skillful mental qualities. This is the fourth prerequisite for the development of the wings to self-awakening.
"'Furthermore, he is discerning, endowed with the discernment of arising & passing away — noble, penetrating, leading to the right ending of stress. This is the fifth prerequisite for the development of the wings to self-awakening.'
"Monks, when a monk has admirable friends, admirable companions, admirable comrades, it is to be expected that he will be virtuous, will dwell restrained in accordance with the Patimokkha, consummate in his behavior & sphere of activity, and will train himself, having undertaken the training rules, seeing danger in the slightest faults.
"When a monk has admirable friends, admirable companions, admirable comrades, it is to be expected that he will get to hear at will, easily & without difficulty, talk that is truly sobering and conducive to the opening of awareness, i.e., talk on modesty, on contentment, on seclusion, on non-entanglement, on arousing persistence, on virtue, on concentration, on discernment, on release, and on the knowledge & vision of release.
"When a monk has admirable friends, admirable companions, admirable comrades, it is to be expected that he will keep his persistence aroused for abandoning unskillful mental qualities, and for taking on skillful mental qualities — steadfast, solid in his effort, not shirking his duties with regard to skillful mental qualities.
"When a monk has admirable friends, admirable companions, admirable comrades, it is to be expected that he will be discerning, endowed with discernment of arising & passing away — noble, penetrating, leading to the right ending of stress.
"And furthermore, monks, when the monk is established in these five qualities, there are four additional qualities he should develop: He should develop [contemplation of] the unattractive so as to abandon lust. He should develop good will so as to abandon ill will. He should develop mindfulness of in-&-out breathing so as to cut off distractive thinking. He should develop the perception of inconstancy so as to uproot the conceit, 'I am.' For a monk perceiving inconstancy, the perception of not-self is made firm. One perceiving not-self attains the uprooting of the conceit, 'I am' — Unbinding in the here & now."
I have spent my life collecting various stories, rationalisations and explanations of the 'mysterious'. It would be irrational not to learn more from Mujaku et al.
This does not mean that I like the hectoring tone that they adopt or their use of personal insult. These are not, in my experience, the behaviours of effective teachers. Until I discover for myself dissonances in what they assert, or get bored of sifting the bits of gold from the mire of slung mud, I shall read what they say, just as I read all the other posts.
I should add that I am far from being so interested in their "hermeneutic" (method of reading) of the Dharma or in their showing off that, should they be banned, that I should seek them out to learn more. But, then, I do wonder if they really want to teach or if they only want to parade their car-boot-sale of arcane texts, commentaries and variant translations.
This is unfortunate because their exegesis may represent a patch of the Buddha's chögu and I should like to learn more.
1st paragraph, I got.
2nd paragraph made me think.
3rd paragraph made me think I never took English in school.
Last sentence, is true for me too.
I've said it before, Simon, and I'll say it agin - you use yer tongue perttier than a $20 hooker!
I have spent my life collecting various stories, rationalisations and explanations of the 'mysterious'. It would be irrational not to learn more from Mujaku et al.
This does not mean that I like the hectoring tone that they adopt or their use of personal insult. These are not, in my experience, the behaviours of effective teachers. Until I discover for myself dissonances in what they assert, or get bored of sifting the bits of gold from the mire of slung mud, I shall read what they say, just as I read all the other posts.
I should add that I am far from being so interested in their "hermeneutic" (method of reading) of the Dharma or in their showing off that, should they be banned, that I should seek them out to learn more. But, then, I do wonder if they really want to teach or if they only want to parade their car-boot-sale of arcane texts, commentaries and variant translations.
This is unfortunate because their exegesis may represent a patch of the Buddha's chögu and I should like to learn more.
1st paragraph, I got.
2nd paragraph made me think.
3rd paragraph made me think I never took English in school.
Last sentence, is true for me too.
I've said it before, Simon, and I'll say it agin - you use yer tongue perttier than a $20 hooker!
DITTO for me, 'cept for the tongue perttier than a $20 hooker. I'm gonna start referring to Simon as Simon the Pilgrim PRINCE!!!
BTW Is this thread gonna be stopped 'cuz we've gotten so far off topic??? "Cept for Elohim.
If This World Was Not Made for Thee, For Whom Was It Made?
Let the Path Ahead of Thee Be Peaceful, Thy Ways Strewn With Rays and Breezes, Bliss-Drenched, And the Road Behind Thee Littered With Potent Seeds of Joy. Let Thy Very Name Be Bliss!
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited February 2006
I think in this case it's more a case of 'wandering off the beaten track' rather than going off-topic all together...
A very good example - and appropiate thread - in which to realise the Importance of Right Awareness... Mindfulness skillfully practised...
ANECDOTE:
Sir Alec Guinness was starring in a production of Shakespeare's Richard the Third'. The performance was taking place in an open-air theatre in Hyde Park, London, I believe... As he entered stage left, he caught sight of a man in the first row, sprawled lazily in his chair, flicking through the programme. Sir Alec drew his (prop) sword, deftly flicked the programme out of the man's hands and rapped:
"Pay attention!"
There's no real long-term problem with wandering off, I guess... providing after a short while, you wander back, people.....;)
The reason that I posted - and, thereby, took thgis thread down a by-way - is that we were "told" that the Aryan (Noble) Eightfold Path is only for "aryans" (a word with extremely nasty resonances to those of us who lost our families in the camps).
However nasty the word, the concept of exclusivity challenges us here. What if it were true? How is the notion supported?
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited February 2006
"The word "Aryan" derives from cultures of Iran and India. It was originally used in various Indo-Iranian languages. Possibly it originally referred to clan-identity, but it certainly later had a meaning roughly similar to "noble" or "honorable". It was sometimes used by the speakers of these languages to refer to those who were ennobled by spirtual knowledge."
(From "Wikipedia.org")
I think he probably meant it in this context. But clarification would have helped, rather than bombastic insistence.
I think that it will take at least another generation before the word "aryan" or the ancient hooked cross ("swastika") become usable again in their original meanings - possibly, even, a further 100 years.
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited February 2006
You are absolutely right -
"No amount of good sense, no matter how skillfully applied, is of any use against a morsel of stupidity currently in fashion...."
The German Dirndl, as I used to wear as a child, is a symbol of "national" pride shall I say..... Great pity.
And I have a beautifully ornate, decorative cut-out paper swastika on my Buddha-table, and much as i would love to display it prominently, it is so pretty, I am hesitant to do so.
It is further marred for me by it's constant exposure on the Dark Zen Internet page.
I think that it will take at least another generation before the word "aryan" or the ancient hooked cross ("swastika") become usable again in their original meanings - possibly, even, a further 100 years.
To be honest, I had to re-look that word up. It does carry bad connotations - especially here in the Pacific Northwest... we've had issues with Aryan groups that still glorify things that should have never been glorified.
To be honest, I had to re-look that word up. It does carry bad connotations - especially here in the Pacific Northwest... we've had issues with Aryan groups that still glorify things that should have never been glorified.
-bf
We have the problem, too, BF. As a result, I judge the use of the word as a translation to be less skillful than others.
Slim Pickins = Mr. Taggert
Harvey Korman = Hedley Lamarr
Taggert: "You know, I thought fer sure Mongo would just mash him up inta little bitty sheriff meatballs. I just don't understand it."
Hedley: "Be still, Taggert.
Taggert: "Yes, sir."
Hedley: "My mind is a raging torrent. Flooded with rivulets of thoughts cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives."
Taggert: "Goldarnit, Mr. Lamarr. You use yer tongue perttier than a $20 whore."
Hedley: "Shitkicker."
:poke: Now what eejit decided to bring this film up? Now I am singing the theme song from it in a continuous loop.
He rode a blazing saddle, he wore a shining star,
His aim was to do battle, with bad men near and far
He conquered fear and he conquered hate, he turned our night to daaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
He made his blazing saddle a torch to light the way.
He rode a blazing saddle, he wore a shining star,
His aim was to do battle, with bad men near and far
He conquered fear and he conquered hate, he turned our night to daaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
He made his blazing saddle a torch to light the way.
He rode a blazing saddle, he wore a shining star,
His aim was to do battle, with bad men near and far
He conquered fear and he conquered hate, he turned our night to daaaaaaaaaaaaaaay NOW SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE :crazy:
Well I have been trying to teach him to type. But now every time he sees me coming with a roll of tape in one hand (otherwise his paws tend to slide off the keys you understand), he seems to disappear. I suspect it's just shyness but I won't embarrass him by mentioning it in front of him. I must admit I am very impressed though, he can move fast with 3 legs. I dare say he'll turn up at some point, and I'll even let him off doing the typing for a while. In fact, now that I think of it, he can vacuum the place. Now where did I put that tape...
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Comments
What do you mean by a rubber? For your shoes?
As you haven't noticed, we Americans are quite an uptight bunch. If you are relaxed about a number of things, you're considered wierd like me. I'm considered a liberal because I think it's everyone's right to do what they want as long as they aren't hurting someone else. Or if they are into a little pain, okay.
But I would have been smart enough to ask you what you meant as you have different ways of naming things than Americans. We really aren't a bad group of people, we just don't know when to mind our own darn business.
Rubber = eraser, like for rubbing out pencil.
And I have always found Americans so friendly and welcoming, even if they do examine the contents of your supermarket trolley and then ask you about it - I find that quite refreshing actually.
My biggest doo doo was on a plane when the stewardess asked me if I wanted a drink and I said Tomaarto Juice (being a snotty Brit) and she said "Yewannawot?". This went on for some time until the Old Feller who speaks Yank fluently said "De Laydee wanna Maydojooz" Collapse of stout party!
"Now the Belgians on the other hand..."
Don't you even DARE...I WORSHIP the Belgians and their chocolate making artistry. Absolutely WORSHIP. I'll have NONE of that! I shall defend them to the death. A duel?
I can't BELIEVE you brought the subject of chocolate up again...
What's the topic of this thread? I can't remember...
(O.K...I'm leaving, I'm leaving...)
(P.S. Genryu, I'm still trying to figure out your Latin phrase. All I have so far is "You have, simple, erudition, if this...)
The same USian friend was equally puzzled when directed to the "cottage" at Hyde Park Corner (a favourite of Joe Orton's).
For anyone interested in an excellent study of anonymous sex in public p;aces, you might like to look at Laud Humphreys' Tearoom Trade, although I imagine that, being pre-HIV (1975), behaviour has significantly altered:
Tearoom Trade
OK, I agree about the chocolate. Which of course why Belgium should be nationalised. The phrase translates as, "If you can read this, you're over educated."
There are testing times... Both on a personal level, because Nick and I are "girding our loins" for a change to our circumastances, which hopefully, will improve things for us (they surely cannot get any worse!) and on a level regarding this Forum...
It came to me that things are evolving... and nothing stays the same or stands still... and yet, we are very rarely adequately prepared for this.... faced with an unsettled existence, where previously all had been calm and delightful, we are required to quell the rising panic, when we see the thing we considered to be our rock and anchor, experiencing de-stabilisation....
And instead of yearning to have things as they were... instead of permitting our desire for familiarity to root us even deeper into Attachment and Clinging, perhaps we need to excercise Right View, and to see things as they really are.....
To accept - to welcome! - this tremor, and to embrace it as a reality check.... to greet it as a friend, who has been absent for a while, and has returned like a breath of fresh air.
Something to sweep the cobwebs of complacency from our stagnant Minds, and breeze in, complete with broom, feather duster and bin-liners!
The Winds of Change....
Who's on the Path with me?
(Don't forget to pack the chocolate.....
Yeah, that's the truth, Fede. Complacency is not the right place to be. (Hey, that rhymed!) I'm with you. I embrace change and I let go of stagnancy. (Hey, I thought I was making up that word but my spell check alarm didn't go off.) Change really is good. So's a kick in the pants, sometimes. A few ruffled feathers and a little excitement doesn't have to be a bad thing at all. It's an adventure, isn't it? I do love a reality check on a regular basis. I NEED one, as well. I never want to stick my head in the sand. Arm in arm with my sangha I say bring it on!
Brigid
P.S. Now where's that chocolate? Hmm?
A simple example I can give is here at work...
Many of the teachers on faculty have been here for 15+ years (I have been for 8).
There is a group that refuses to try anything new!!! Their motto is "If it ain't broke..."
This attitude can be easy to fall into BUT, how about someting NEW and REFRESHING!!!!?
At a personal level, I'd like to say that I embrace change. But sometimes it can be heartbreaking. I have learned to immediately think to myself, "For every positive there is a negative, now LOOK for it!"
Let's go...oh, I have the Hershey Kisses!:vimp:
Right - thermos of tea, ditto coffee, family pack of mars bars, fizzy water, hard boiled eggs, baby tomaaaartoes and several sticks of French bread. Where we off then?
There are a number of things non-aryans don't understand about the aryan eighitfold path. The essential facet they don't understand is that the path is not intended for common people which in Sanskirt is prithagjana.
Who is the prithagjana? He does not understand as it really is that the Mind (citta) is radiant, with the result that there is for him no cultivation (bhâvanâ) of that radiant Mind.
According to the Awakening of Faith prithagjana are said not to be enlightened because they have had a continuous stream of deluded thoughts and have never been freed from such deluded thoughts.
Perhaps this can be illustrated by this simile. When the aryan and the prithagjana are in darkness, they seem no different. But when the light appears, the aryan sees and the prithagjana ever remains blind.
As regards Perfect Insight (samyak drishti) of the eightfold path, one who is an aryan has insight into the Dharmakaya of the Tathagata according to Bhavaviveka's Karatala-ratna.
There is so much to do, so much to learn and so much to appreciate. How much nicer it is to do it all with like-minded people from whom one can learn with pleasure! The challenges and obstacles to practise are made so much easier to meet head on, or if all else fails, to circumvent. If the Mountain will not come to Mahommed....
Can you develop this a bit further? It is my poor understanding that the Tathagata taught, in the Third and Fourth Aryan Truths, that there is a way for anyone who perseveres on the Path.
In your reading, how does the aryan/prithagjana distinction arise? Is this the outcome of karma? Is it unchangeable or is it progressive? Can the prithagjana become aryan, or the aryan prithagjana?
How does this affect your own practice and experience?
An excellent book on the aryan/prithagjana (Pali, ariyan/puthujjana) question has to be Peter Masefield's book, Divine Revelation in Pali Buddhism. It is a must for the serious student.
Yes, the prithagjana can become an aryan and enter the triple gem sangha of holy persons. It takes some doing. The basic teaching of becoming an aryan is to awaken to that which animates our body which is entirely spiritual and immaterial. Prithagjanas can't detect it. They even boast there is no such thing (I did it once too...lol). But the aryan is directly aware of it. Over the years it grows as the aryan cultivates it. As strange as it souds, the more of you is out of the body than in the body. It is a deathless state of being since death is only bodily and material.
-bf
And here I thought I was getting the hang of it!!!!!!!
I'm stickin' with it!
I use various posts to help "me" learn to control myself.
And to keep in practice with the scroll button on my mouse.
-bf
This does not mean that I like the hectoring tone that they adopt or their use of personal insult. These are not, in my experience, the behaviours of effective teachers. Until I discover for myself dissonances in what they assert, or get bored of sifting the bits of gold from the mire of slung mud, I shall read what they say, just as I read all the other posts.
I should add that I am far from being so interested in their "hermeneutic" (method of reading) of the Dharma or in their showing off that, should they be banned, that I should seek them out to learn more. But, then, I do wonder if they really want to teach or if they only want to parade their car-boot-sale of arcane texts, commentaries and variant translations.
This is unfortunate because their exegesis may represent a patch of the Buddha's chögu and I should like to learn more.
Wings to Awakening: An Anthology from the Pali Canon
Jason
1st paragraph, I got.
2nd paragraph made me think.
3rd paragraph made me think I never took English in school.
Last sentence, is true for me too.
I've said it before, Simon, and I'll say it agin - you use yer tongue perttier than a $20 hooker!
-bf
DITTO for me, 'cept for the tongue perttier than a $20 hooker. I'm gonna start referring to Simon as Simon the Pilgrim PRINCE!!!
BTW Is this thread gonna be stopped 'cuz we've gotten so far off topic??? "Cept for Elohim.
For Whom Was It Made?
Let the Path Ahead of Thee Be Peaceful,
Thy Ways Strewn With Rays and Breezes, Bliss-Drenched,
And the Road Behind Thee Littered With Potent Seeds of Joy.
Let Thy Very Name Be Bliss!
A very good example - and appropiate thread - in which to realise the Importance of Right Awareness... Mindfulness skillfully practised...
ANECDOTE:
Sir Alec Guinness was starring in a production of Shakespeare's Richard the Third'. The performance was taking place in an open-air theatre in Hyde Park, London, I believe... As he entered stage left, he caught sight of a man in the first row, sprawled lazily in his chair, flicking through the programme. Sir Alec drew his (prop) sword, deftly flicked the programme out of the man's hands and rapped:
"Pay attention!"
There's no real long-term problem with wandering off, I guess... providing after a short while, you wander back, people.....;)
However nasty the word, the concept of exclusivity challenges us here. What if it were true? How is the notion supported?
(From "Wikipedia.org")
I think he probably meant it in this context. But clarification would have helped, rather than bombastic insistence.
"No amount of good sense, no matter how skillfully applied, is of any use against a morsel of stupidity currently in fashion...."
The German Dirndl, as I used to wear as a child, is a symbol of "national" pride shall I say..... Great pity.
And I have a beautifully ornate, decorative cut-out paper swastika on my Buddha-table, and much as i would love to display it prominently, it is so pretty, I am hesitant to do so.
It is further marred for me by it's constant exposure on the Dark Zen Internet page.
That speaks volumes.
I only say that cuz I love that line from Mr. Taggert in Blazing Saddles.
I throw out too many odd references
-bf
To be honest, I had to re-look that word up. It does carry bad connotations - especially here in the Pacific Northwest... we've had issues with Aryan groups that still glorify things that should have never been glorified.
-bf
We have the problem, too, BF. As a result, I judge the use of the word as a translation to be less skillful than others.
I've seen Blazing Saddles several times and don't recall that line. Who said it? By that I mean which actor. Thanks for your help with this.
Harvey Korman = Hedley Lamarr
Taggert: "You know, I thought fer sure Mongo would just mash him up inta little bitty sheriff meatballs. I just don't understand it."
Hedley: "Be still, Taggert.
Taggert: "Yes, sir."
Hedley: "My mind is a raging torrent. Flooded with rivulets of thoughts cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives."
Taggert: "Goldarnit, Mr. Lamarr. You use yer tongue perttier than a $20 whore."
Hedley: "Shitkicker."
-bf
-bf
....This has to be one of my favourite films....
"Mongo just a pawn...."
He rode a blazing saddle, he wore a shining star,
His aim was to do battle, with bad men near and far
He conquered fear and he conquered hate, he turned our night to daaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
He made his blazing saddle a torch to light the way.
He rode a blazing saddle, he wore a shining star,
His aim was to do battle, with bad men near and far
He conquered fear and he conquered hate, he turned our night to daaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
He made his blazing saddle a torch to light the way.
He rode a blazing saddle, he wore a shining star,
His aim was to do battle, with bad men near and far
He conquered fear and he conquered hate, he turned our night to daaaaaaaaaaaaaaay NOW SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE :crazy:
So many great things in it!