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Could it be this simple?
johnathan
Canada Veteran
I am currently reading "Living Dharma: Teachings of Twelve Buddhist Monks".
On page 31 it makes the following statement...
The entire teaching of Buddhism can be summed up in this way:
Nothing is worth holding on to.
If you let go of everything,
Objects
Concepts
Teachers
Buddha
Self
Senses
Memories
Life
Death
Freedom
Let go and all suffering will cease. The world will appear in its pristine self-existing nature, and you will experience the freedom of the Buddha.
The rest that follows in this book are useful approaches and techniques for learning to let go.
So is that it in a nutshell... Nirvana is the letting go of all these things and the Dharma is the teachings of how to let go?
On page 31 it makes the following statement...
The entire teaching of Buddhism can be summed up in this way:
Nothing is worth holding on to.
If you let go of everything,
Objects
Concepts
Teachers
Buddha
Self
Senses
Memories
Life
Death
Freedom
Let go and all suffering will cease. The world will appear in its pristine self-existing nature, and you will experience the freedom of the Buddha.
The rest that follows in this book are useful approaches and techniques for learning to let go.
So is that it in a nutshell... Nirvana is the letting go of all these things and the Dharma is the teachings of how to let go?
0
Comments
Also see AN 7.58 and SN 35.101.
Namaste
'Letting go' doesn't mean ignore.
To live with, whilst letting go, that's the rub.
I will tell you how it is with me.
I am a strong and vocal advocate of basing your life on the 'simple' premise of The Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path. Ad nauseam, I tell people this is all they need. because all teachings come back to these.
The Four, The Eight and the Five.
A delightful Bikkhuni once said to me - "Yes, but it gets even better - "Be Mindful and Simplify!"
Her beaming radiant face was testimony to how simple things can be.
Letting go is the key to NT #2. Craving, grasping and clinging is what keeps us ensnared fast in Samsara.
Oh and, one more thing:
'Simple' doesn't mean 'easy'.
Anthony de Mello
Even if we were to search the entire globe, still it is hard to find one that can be completely detached. Try as we may, ‘attachment’ continues to arise. The reason being detachment is not a matter of ‘will’, it is a matter of prajna wisdom and only in Buddhism this is pointed out and for this I am grateful to Buddha.
Although it is not right to spout high views, it is also important not to over simplify matters. In my view, if our mind is filled with ‘dualistic and inherent thoughts’, even with utmost sincerity and honesty in practice, there is still no true ‘detachment’.
Yeah... i guess I worded that wrong... I simply meant was the explanation of the path that simple, not the actual staying on the path... I realize that is anything but simple...
Thanks for the Suttra refrences :-)
Again, no easy task...
Agreed...
I couldn't agree with you more... You and I share this same view of simplicity... But yet, not so simple... lol
So true... We just need to be open enough to listen to the story without expectations of wanting something more...
As am I...
That is very beautiful. Thank you for posting it!
But like you've all said - there's a big difference between simple and easy. The good thing is, even the pain from doing something difficult can be let go. That wasn't even an option in my life before I started taking care of my spirit.
Thanks, Johnathan.
Agreed. it's letting go of attachment to those things or the emotional states that go with them. Just not caring is not the same as caring but not being swayed by them.
And, as said, much easier said than done. Even the Dalai Lama himself admits he feels sorrows and suffering, but the training he's received lets him release those emotions quickly and move on. I mean imagine actually being able to do something like not feel sorrow over the death of a loved one, or to decide that pain is nothing just because you don't think it's real suffering.
I'd also say it's not so much "letting go" as much as not being attached, appreciate it while it's there, but don't worry about it passing, because underneath everything is the absolute truth that everything will change. So it's really simpler than that. In a sense it could be summed up as "accept that everything changes".
Then again, that's for personal enlightenment, there is also the suffering of others to deal with so even if you understand and can do this, it's not really worth anything if you're not doing any good for others. What is personal enlightenment really worth on a worldly scale?
This is just my opinion or what I've taken from my reading, who knows, I may be completely off.
In Mahayana and Vajrayana, the Bodhisattva motivation is more "developed" than metta is in Theravadin, such that it's considered essential in Mahayana and Vajrayana to take refuge until we attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. So that's the answer to the question regarding what enlightenment is worth on a worldly scale. I'm not trying to "diss" Theravada, but if Theravada practice gives way to a lot of metta, then the world is a better place because of that. Similarly, if Mayahana/Vajrayana gives way to bodhicitta, then the world is a better place because of that.
Here is a prayer attributed to the Indian Buddhist sage Shantideva:
"<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style>May I be a guard for all those who are protectorless,
A guide for those who journey on the road,
For those who wish to go across the water,
May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.
For all those ailing in the world,
Until their every sickness has been healed,
May I myself become for them
The doctor, nurse, the medicine itself."
I have come full circle and have found simplicity again... Not that simplicity requires less effort, that effort is just focused in a different dirrection...
When we’re deluded there’s a world to escape. When we’re aware, there’s nothing to escape. ~ Bodhidharma, “Wake-Up Sermon” (translated by Red Pine)
The problem is that we actually are incapable of seeing zazen as useless because our minds can’t accept the fundamental genuineness and all-rightness of our lives. We are actually very resistant to this reality. We hate it because it is too simple and we persistently think we need more. This is not a detail or a quirk of our minds; it is not even a habit really; it is the deep nature of our minds. The Sanskrit word for consciousness is vijnana, which means to divide, or to cut. In order for us to have what we call experience we have to divide or cut reality. Genuineness or all-rightness is wholeness, indivisibility, so it can’t be an experience. ~ Zoketsu Norman Fischer, “A Coin in the River Is Found in the River” (from The Art of Sitting by John Daido Loori)
Nothing of samsara is different from nirvana, nothing of nirvana is different from samsara. That which is the limit of nirvana is also the limit of samsara; there is not the slightest difference between the two. ~ Nagarjuna
In spring, the cherry blossoms,
In summer, the cuckoo’s song,
In autumn, the moon, shining,
In winter, the frozen snow:
How pure and clear are the seasons!
~ “Original Face,” Dogen (translated by Steven Heine)
Not “Revelation”—’tis—that waits,
But our unfurnished eyes—
~ Emily Dickinson
@riverflow - I just wanted to say I really love your post.
And there's a lot of misinformation about that in a lot of places.
Does anyone know if the Buddha ever said anything about time being a factor?
From Buddhadasa Bhikkhu:
"There is a section in the Majjhima Nikaya where someone approached the Buddha and asked him whether he could summarize his teachings in one phrase and, if he could, what it would be. The Buddha replied that he could: "Sabba dhamma nalam abhinivesaya". "Sabbe dhamm" means "all things", "nalam" means "should not be", "abhinivesaya" means "to be clung to". Nothing whatsoever should be clung to. Then the Buddha emphasized this point by saying that whoever had heard this core-phrase had heard all the Teachings, who ever put it into practice had practiced all the Teachings, and whoever had received the fruits of practicing this point had received all of the fruits of the Buddhist Teachings".
-Essential points of the Buddhist teachings by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu.
http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/Essential_points_of_the_Buddhist_teachings_by_Buddhadasa_Bhikkhu
When we stop our clinging and instead let go of any given moment, we really just let go of the self. We do not let go of thoughts, or desires, or any objects or events—only the self. In those situations, we do not let go of anything external to the self—all vexation simply arises from the delusion of a permanent, independent, clearly demarcated self.
You only need drop one thing: the self—nothing more, nothing less.
https://riverflow0.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/letting-go-of-what
How could simply "dropping away" - "letting go" - "letting be" - "non attachment" through following the Dharma be the answer?
Wait what was the question?
Nevermind, ddrishi@ said, "It's simple but it takes a lifetime to accomplish."
So true. So simple. So complex. So, at the end of a lifetime - voila! - the end of attachment - the end of living - the end of searching.
Nirvana and samsara have a beginning middle and end - just like a planet - a flower - a star - a human - but only a human interprets this process intellectually - emotionally - psychologically - physically.....................delusionally.
So, Gautama awakened to and taught that it all ends - we get what we want according to the teaching - liberation. And the Dharma is the vehicle we ride to the end of the line.
Thanks, Shakyamuni - it is so simple.
["When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty."]
Are desires and thoughts skandhas?
Namaste
or here: http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/10493/letting-go/p1
For instance, Muslims would say the exact same thing, but tell you the pathway lies in complete submission to Allah. Christians would tell you the exact same thing, but tell you the pathway lies in surrendering your life to Christ.
But I totally agree to the call to simplify in your mind. Don't mean you can ignore the hard work of getting to the point where simple is all you need.