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Attachment To Views: Can you laugh at yourself? your beliefs/practices?

BhikkhuJayasaraBhikkhuJayasara Bhikkhu Veteran
edited December 2013 in Buddhism Today
Firstly I'd like to say that this is in no means a thread meant to insult anyone or make fun of anyone's beliefs and practices. This is an exploration of attachment to views.

I think we can use this quote from Bhikkhu Bodhi to start out :

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_25.html

"The Buddha's teaching repeatedly cautions us about the dangers in clinging — in clinging to possessions, clinging to pleasures, clinging to people, clinging to views. The Buddha sounds such words of warning because he discerns in clinging a potent cause of suffering, and he thus advises us that the price we must pay to arrive at the "far shore" of liberation is the relinquishment of every type of clinging. In a move that at first glance may even seem self-destructive on the part of a religious founder, the Buddha says that we should not cling even to his teachings, that even the wholesome principles of the Dhamma have to be treated like the makeshift raft used to carry us across the stream."



So, can you laugh at yourself? can you laugh at your religion, your most closely held beliefs? Lets do a test.

How about these pictures
image
http://lonniesmalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/not1.jpg
image

Offended... or more easy to laugh at? The internet is rife with things like this making fun of every aspect of Christianity. These both crack me the heck up, and you have to know some of the back story to understand the joke as it were. Many of us who grew up with this but don't identify with it strongly anymore could probably laugh easily at this.


Now how about this?

image

you know how hard it is to find de-motivational buddhist posters... no fun! haha

what about grumpy cat?
image


Well I guess these two buddhist ones aren't "blasphemous" enough.. but you get my point..


and how about some interfaith comedy?

image


I think this last picture says a lot. Show me a wise monk or guru you know that doesn't have a quick smile or laugh...
image



I'm not quite sure what makes someone be able to laugh at themselves and their beliefs/practices vs someone who takes it very seriously and is easily offended. I think it has something to do with how attached we are to our views, but I'm certainly no scholar or guru to be able to see it clearly at this time.

So what do you think it's about? and also if you find any funny buddhist pictures please post :)
EvenThirdrobotInvincible_summerpoptartlobstermisterCopeanataman

Comments

  • EvenThirdEvenThird NYC Veteran
    I'm probably on the end of not taking my beliefs/views seriously enough (I humor myself constantly, and need to remind myself to stop laughing and start practicing)
    BhikkhuJayasaraInvincible_summer
  • robot said:

    At first I thought this was silly. Making offerings at a non-statue.

    It is the thought that counts . . . but don't count on it . . .

    Emptiness is form and form is . . . gone . . .

    :clap:
    robotEvenThirdDavid
  • HamsakaHamsaka goosewhisperer Polishing the 'just so' Veteran
    I've thought for a while that @Lobster needed to get that stick out of his behind, you know, relax and not take his Buddhism so seriously.
    lobster
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    I think this is where "true" faith in the Dhamma rears its head - more than just holding the beliefs tightly to our chests, we learn to let it go from time to time, knowing that it will be there when we need it.
    EvenThird
  • HamsakaHamsaka goosewhisperer Polishing the 'just so' Veteran
    image
    poptartanatamanBhikkhuJayasaralobster
  • Great thread, @Jayantha. The only thing worth having in life is a laugh.
    I'm not quite sure what makes someone be able to laugh at themselves and their beliefs/practices vs someone who takes it very seriously and is easily offended. I think it has something to do with how attached we are to our views,
    Yes, and the less secure one is, the more attached. Once you have learned to have confidence in your own Buddha nature, you realise nothing can detract from it. It is always there, like a clear blue sky behind the clouds.
    robotlobster
  • annnnnnd #4
    lobsterInvincible_summer
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    Jayantha said:


    what about grumpy cat?
    image

    That one made me smile....

    :p
    BhikkhuJayasara
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    Jeffrey said:


    Light touch. Not too loose not too tight.

    I sometimes embrace uncertainty, but I'm not sure about it.... :p
    lobsterJeffrey
  • seeker242seeker242 Zen Florida, USA Veteran
    Jayantha said:

    I'm not quite sure what makes someone be able to laugh at themselves and their beliefs/practices vs someone who takes it very seriously and is easily offended.

    What about the third option?! Take it seriously but not easily offended?!

    BhikkhuJayasaraSilouan
  • BhikkhuJayasaraBhikkhuJayasara Bhikkhu Veteran
    seeker242 said:

    Jayantha said:

    I'm not quite sure what makes someone be able to laugh at themselves and their beliefs/practices vs someone who takes it very seriously and is easily offended.

    What about the third option?! Take it seriously but not easily offended?!

    thats even more interesting then the other options. I feel I fit into that more as I do take my practice seriously while at the same time having fun with it. good post.
    EvenThird
  • seeker242seeker242 Zen Florida, USA Veteran
    image

    :lol:
    anatamanThailandTomHamsaka
  • Laughter associated with peace and joy is of a spirit of freedom and non-attachment, but that which is at the expense of others is of a different kind.

    I don’t laugh at my beliefs/practices but rather at times with them when I undeniable come to know for a certain moment their profundity and how contrary to them I had been behaving.

    One day at work it seemed that anything possibly needing my attention came up. I became frustrated and started complaining and said, "Lord the only thing I haven't had to do today is fix a toilet".

    About 10 minutes later I had to use the restroom. When finished I flushed the toilet, but the chain inside the tank broke and of course I had to fix. However, I didn't get angry but just let go, started to smile with God and laugh. My burden then became light.
    anatamanEvenThirdbetaboy
  • anatamananataman Who needs a title? Where am I? Veteran
    “A Zen master once said to me, ‘Do the opposite of whatever I tell you.’ So I didn't.”
  • anatamananataman Who needs a title? Where am I? Veteran
    image
  • and how about some interfaith comedy?
    Nasrudin is the Islamic comedian



    anataman
  • anatamananataman Who needs a title? Where am I? Veteran
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