Who is My Teacher?
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Good Morning Everyone,
I am an applied person. I want to look at how a principle or belief is actually used in daily, everyday life. Hence most of my blog content has to do with the ordinary aspects of living. as they apply to religious practice.
My teachers are everywhere:
I rely on my Jewish ancestors to inform me. For example. I look to Talmud for a view of Torah to everyday life. I have begun a study of Kabbalah for its mystical applications, and have practiced Zen for the skillsets it develops through its practice. The Dalai Lama once asked a group of rabbis to visit with him. He wanted to learn how they survived two millenia without a homeland. A good idea, I think.
Talmud is a record of rabbis who at the fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE began discussing how to make the Torah relevant to people in their everyday lives. Its essentially the "so what?" of Judaism. Whereas, the Kabbalah, developed in the 13th century, asks us to look at the world without a necessary reference to the mind. It is heartfelt, a mystical approach to God. Here I look for the applications to life today.
While in college I made a detailed study of Christian theology and was only one credit short of having a major in religion. I found the life of Jesus to be fascinating. This was in the late sixties and early seventies, so Jesus as a radical opponent of "the system" was very relevant to me. But this was ancient history and the Christians that surrounded me made me want to throw up they were so sicky sweet and out of touch with much of anything save their little Lilly white world in Hartsville, South Carolina. I had returned from Vietnam just a little rough around the edges and on a constant state of alert. My crap detector was finely tuned by life itself. And these people were full of it. I see this period now as the beginning of my applied consciousness bent and, even though I fancied myself a writer/philosopher, the content was always about actual life.
Discovering Reform Judaism with its focus on the rational, intellectual side of faith, yet still offering practices that enabled me to touch something, was a wonderful thing.
Discovering Zen with its focus on stillness and the most simple principles based in ahimsa, the principle of doing no harm, was a great compliment.
Today I see that as we practice Zen, we learn to open ourselves to the fact that everything...everything...is our teacher, if we just let go of our belief that we are the center of the universe and that our cherished beliefs are sacred. Sacred is evil if it is used in a way that closes us off, elevates us, or in other ways separates us from the universe.
So, our practice, all of our practice, meditation, study, prayer, work, celebrating the seasonal holidays, art...all of it, is important and key to our living a spiritually awakened life.
The main thing is to practice and let it be your guide.
Be well.
I am an applied person. I want to look at how a principle or belief is actually used in daily, everyday life. Hence most of my blog content has to do with the ordinary aspects of living. as they apply to religious practice.
My teachers are everywhere:
I rely on my Jewish ancestors to inform me. For example. I look to Talmud for a view of Torah to everyday life. I have begun a study of Kabbalah for its mystical applications, and have practiced Zen for the skillsets it develops through its practice. The Dalai Lama once asked a group of rabbis to visit with him. He wanted to learn how they survived two millenia without a homeland. A good idea, I think.
Talmud is a record of rabbis who at the fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE began discussing how to make the Torah relevant to people in their everyday lives. Its essentially the "so what?" of Judaism. Whereas, the Kabbalah, developed in the 13th century, asks us to look at the world without a necessary reference to the mind. It is heartfelt, a mystical approach to God. Here I look for the applications to life today.
While in college I made a detailed study of Christian theology and was only one credit short of having a major in religion. I found the life of Jesus to be fascinating. This was in the late sixties and early seventies, so Jesus as a radical opponent of "the system" was very relevant to me. But this was ancient history and the Christians that surrounded me made me want to throw up they were so sicky sweet and out of touch with much of anything save their little Lilly white world in Hartsville, South Carolina. I had returned from Vietnam just a little rough around the edges and on a constant state of alert. My crap detector was finely tuned by life itself. And these people were full of it. I see this period now as the beginning of my applied consciousness bent and, even though I fancied myself a writer/philosopher, the content was always about actual life.
Discovering Reform Judaism with its focus on the rational, intellectual side of faith, yet still offering practices that enabled me to touch something, was a wonderful thing.
Discovering Zen with its focus on stillness and the most simple principles based in ahimsa, the principle of doing no harm, was a great compliment.
Today I see that as we practice Zen, we learn to open ourselves to the fact that everything...everything...is our teacher, if we just let go of our belief that we are the center of the universe and that our cherished beliefs are sacred. Sacred is evil if it is used in a way that closes us off, elevates us, or in other ways separates us from the universe.
So, our practice, all of our practice, meditation, study, prayer, work, celebrating the seasonal holidays, art...all of it, is important and key to our living a spiritually awakened life.
The main thing is to practice and let it be your guide.
Be well.