China Cat Sunflower said:
Tariki said:Once again I come to this thread.........................this time as some sort of refugee from another forum where a thread I was involved in began to become far to "heavy" for me to endure. Anyway, I just wish to offer a quote, from the words of the Trappist monk Thomas Merton in his "Note to the Reader" from his book "The Way of Chuang Tzu".
It seems relevant to this thread.
"...............the way (of Chuang Tzu)...is characteristic of a certain mentality found everywhere in the world, a certain taste for simplicity, for humilty, self-effacement, silence, and in general a refusal to take seriously the aggressivity, the ambition, the push, and the self-importance which one must display in order to get along in society. This other is a 'way' that prefers not to get anywhere in the world, or even in the field of some supposedly spiritual attainment....................For Chuang Tzu, as for the Gospel, to lose one's life is to save it, and to seek to save it for one's own sake is to lose it. There is an affirmation of the world that is nothing but ruin and loss. There is a renunciation of the world that finds and saves man in his own home..........In any event, the 'way' of Chuang Tzu is mysterious because it is so simple that it can get along without being a way at all. Least of all is it a 'way out'. Chuang Tzu would have agreed with St John of the Cross, that you enter upon this kind of way when you leave all ways and, in some sense, get lost"
Anyway, sorry I am not offering at the moment anything from personal experience. But I do recognise here the gentle and kind way that people of various paths seek to encourage each other.
Thank you.
Derek
Hey Tariki. I know of what thread you spoke, (seems like that forum's been tilting too much to the monochromatic, stilted,and literal lately hasn't it?) But yes in the spirit I think you mean there's always good old Lin-Chi, Rinzai Zen founder: "If you want to live freely or die, go or stay, to take off or put on (your clothes), then right now recognize the man who is listening to my discourse. He is without form, without characteristics, without root, without source, and without any dwelling place yet is brisk and lively." Lin-Chi, also in the same regard spoke of the enlightened man as a man "without rank." Without dwelling place, without rank, yet free to roam. I do believe that pathless path is the life/death we ultimately seek to live. Does that come in a brand name?Tariki said:Once again I come to this thread.........................this time as some sort of refugee from another forum where a thread I was involved in began to become far to "heavy" for me to endure. Anyway, I just wish to offer a quote, from the words of the Trappist monk Thomas Merton in his "Note to the Reader" from his book "The Way of Chuang Tzu".
It seems relevant to this thread.
"...............the way (of Chuang Tzu)...is characteristic of a certain mentality found everywhere in the world, a certain taste for simplicity, for humilty, self-effacement, silence, and in general a refusal to take seriously the aggressivity, the ambition, the push, and the self-importance which one must display in order to get along in society. This other is a 'way' that prefers not to get anywhere in the world, or even in the field of some supposedly spiritual attainment....................For Chuang Tzu, as for the Gospel, to lose one's life is to save it, and to seek to save it for one's own sake is to lose it. There is an affirmation of the world that is nothing but ruin and loss. There is a renunciation of the world that finds and saves man in his own home..........In any event, the 'way' of Chuang Tzu is mysterious because it is so simple that it can get along without being a way at all. Least of all is it a 'way out'. Chuang Tzu would have agreed with St John of the Cross, that you enter upon this kind of way when you leave all ways and, in some sense, get lost"
Anyway, sorry I am not offering at the moment anything from personal experience. But I do recognise here the gentle and kind way that people of various paths seek to encourage each other.
Thank you.
Derek
Have a good one, earl, but what you quoted is so true.
Here is a bit more from the Kalama Sutta, which stresses what is really essential:Caimanson said:Hello Vaj, I don't understand Buddhism much
I agree it is an important ingredient to listen to your pure inner voice if that makes sense, but I believe that first what we need is to fulfil our need of love and acceptance to a reasonable degree.
Otherwise we will be paralized with fear, too scared of walking it alone, too worried about being rejected or damned.
Even worse you can jump all the way and deceive yourself because your sense of worth will be too distorted and externalised, you will still carry with you the voices of your teachers, your bullies, your parents, etc. End result, you get a fine neurotic religious/spiritual person.
People have been woderful in this thread, they have been supporting in a way that is unobstrusive, building up love and self worth I hope?
earl said:Hey Tariki. I know of what thread you spoke, (seems like that forum's been tilting too much to the monochromatic, stilted,and literal lately hasn't it?) But yes in the spirit I think you mean there's always good old Lin-Chi, Rinzai Zen founder: "If you want to live freely or die, go or stay, to take off or put on (your clothes), then right now recognize the man who is listening to my discourse. He is without form, without characteristics, without root, without source, and without any dwelling place yet is brisk and lively." Lin-Chi, also in the same regard spoke of the enlightened man as a man "without rank." Without dwelling place, without rank, yet free to roam. I do believe that pathless path is the life/death we ultimately seek to live. Does that come in a brand name?
wil said:
flowperson said:This really is the only way to fly, IMHO. Of course it automatically makes one a heretical, blasphemous Christian... if not a terrorist of some flavor.
flow....
Perhaps this poem might help, when taken in the context of this thread:Caimanson said:
Caimanson said:
