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P.S. Ref should be Udana 8:4, not 8:3. Snoopy, Glad to find a fellow "agnostic"! Are you familiar with the writings of Stephen Batchelor? Derek :)

Snoopy, Thanks for the info re the new book. What you have said reminds me of the title of a biography of Thomas Merton by William H Shannon, "Silent Lamp". The title comes from a poem written in Merton's honour by his friend John C H Wu...... Silent Lamp! Silent Lamp! I only see its...

Cyberpi, Thanks for your post and clarifications. Could you just clarify further? By "metaphysical" do you mean "supernatural"....transcendent to nature? Anyway, I would tend to agree with you on reflection that to express a view - however "ignorant" - can well be a means of gaining...

To get back to my Buddhist roots and away from ecumenical dialogue, just to address the original question...(and my apologies if some of this ground has been covered by previous posts, I must admit I have only skimmed through many of them.................maybe others can get their "own back" by...

Just to amplify what I have already said regarding Thomas Merton and the fruits and curse of obedience, and to pick up on a comment of Cyberpi regarding the Desert Father whose call for obedience and silence would "kill a prophet". The curse I spoke of was the call of Merton's superiors that he...

.....................I begin to get the distinct impression that this subject isn't being treated with the seriousness it so richly deserves..........:) ..or is it :eek: ? I remember during my own fundamentalist days, our main speaker had a sign emblazoned with just those words......Where...

Thomas, yes, it certainly did "just grow'd"..................and challenges many of my own strings of quotes and what-nots!:) Much to "hear" and reflect upon. Anyway, just to throw in a few thoughts and quotes of my own concerning the whole thread, looking back at the original proverb I am...

Just browsing through a few more journal entries of Thomas Merton, and uncovered the following. May have been of worth when - was it China Cat Sunflower? - was asking what it was to "believe", but worth a glance in any case. Merton is responding to a passage from Irenaeus..(A passage that my...

Ah! Comparisons! And seeking the "fruit" of any text! A disciple once complained, "You tell us stories, but you never reveal their meaning to us." Said the master, "How would you like it if someone offered you fruit and chewed it up before giving it to you?" No one can find your...

Just thought I would post this story.................. Time before time, when the world was young, two brothers shared a field and a mill. Each night they divided evenly the grain they had ground together during the day. Now as it happened, one of the brothers lived alone; the other had a...

I think to truly "hear" is to make at least some genuine attempt to appropriate a "teaching" for oneself. Obviously this makes me ask just what the word "genuine" implies! (One thing always leads to another) And perhaps another dimension to it, in as much as we extract "questions" from...

One of the proverbs of the OT goes....(sorry, can't locate the exact chapter and verse).... He who answers a thing before he heareth it, it is a shame and a folly unto him. (and to her I suppose...:D ) It seems to me, reading through so many threads on so many forums, that many - at...

InLove, This made me think of the so called ripple effect, where it has been said that when a butterfly flaps its wings in America the weather is effected in the UK. Well, only those whose knowledge of science is deeper than mine will know if this is more poetic than hard fact, yet the...

Well, my "talking points" seem to have stopped the talk - I suppose not such a bad thing from the point of view of "mysticism":D Picking up my own talking points in relation to this thread and its intent........Personally, I find it difficult to relate to the "contact of two liberties"...

To luna and Ciel, Thanks for your well wishes. Fortunately the operation was nothing life threatening at all, but just involves restricted mobility for a few weeks. Close family, friends and neighbours are all taking the opportunity to visit and lend a helping hand. Anyway, thanks again...

lunamoth said somewhere on this thread that the "instigator of love is always God". I think this is true. I think that when we are self-conscious of "loving", of "having" love, then we can be far from true love. There seems to be infinite reasons why any human being should first seek to "love"...

reflecting upon this, I think lunamoth spoke in a sense for myself, when he spoke of the influence of his parents. My own had no particular "belief" as such that they attempted to instill in me, yet I realise now how their always obvious love for me has given me what I have always valued and...

A few more reflections................. I have long pondered the words associated with the Theravada path, "Buddha's can only point the way, each has to walk the path themselves". Words that call for self-reliance, and often contrasted with the "easy" Pure Land path. But to ask, in the light...

Ciel, It does seem easy to by-pass the shadow, not to recognise the darkness and the "passions". In Pure Land the defiled "I" is revealed by the working of Infinite Compassion. The defiled I is an essential part of oneself, "both the Pure I and the defiled I are necessary for a person to...

Just to illuminate these words.............. I have had to accept the fact that my life is almost totally paradoxical. I have also had to learn gradually to get along without apologising for the fact, even to myself. And perhaps these words are an indication that I have not yet completely...