Live or Die

there is no such thing

from JoeUser Forums

Good Morning Everyone

The Buddha taught that we should be very careful to see clearly, in fact, seeing clearly and being completely at ease with what is there, is a sort of code pointing to awakening.  If I say "this is a cup" and my mind has fixed itself of "cupness" I am not really seeing the object I am calling a cup. I am seeing with my mind's eye. And if we see someone about to harm us?  How do we see clearly then? 

In the martial arts, it is very important to develop an ability to make your mind like water.  Still water reflects accurately what is around it.  It fixes on nothing. In Zen, we do the same.  We call this non-attachment.  Non-attachment means non-investment.  We suffer in direct proportion to our emotional investment in something we perceive we are about to lose.

So, self seems central. Our mind's eye records for the self; it is in service to the self.  Unless we re-wire it.  Training to let go of self, lets go of fear, and fear distorts, causing ripples in the water. Training to let go of attachments, non-investment in outcomes, is key to our success and allows us to see clearly. 

So, someone is trying to harm you.  You are unconcerned about yourself.  You can see him clearly. His suffering, his pain, his craziness.  You can meet his needs, sidestep his assault, embrace his pain. You live; he lives: two have not just survived, but thrived.  The seeds of kindness and compassion have been watered.

What is a cup if not a cup?  Cup is just a concept, a word.  The thing itself is what life is all about. Live without the labels, live without fear.  Know there is no "live", no "die". Be present.

Be a blessing.

 

 

 

 

religion
1,972 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hmm, so you're saying banish all mental representations in order to form a more perfect clarity.  Not assuming, just reacting to a situation or an object as it presents itself.  Through that you can study and reach a higher understanding rather than classifying it as something previously known and giving it no more thought than that?

I can totally get into this Buddhism stuff. :)

~Zoo

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello Zoo...

 

Not banish.  Learn to the things enter and leave, sort of like teflon mind. Yes, set aside the need to put things in boxes as if the boxes were the thing. Boxes have a way of making things conforn on the one hand and disallowing a strtch on the other hand.  If you get my drift.

 

Be well.

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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
Not banish. Learn to the things enter and leave, sort of like teflon mind. Yes, set aside the need to put things in boxes as if the boxes were the thing. Boxes have a way of making things conforn on the one hand and disallowing a strtch on the other hand. If you get my drift.
End of quote


So a nonstick frying pan mind eh? Where things slide around and can pop in and out. Hmm, that makes sense. A constant ebb and flow- seeing things for what they are, what they could be, and what they might have been...yet not restraining yourself to one view only.

Basically flexibility of the mind. That's always important...even for a hard science guy like myself. :)

~Zoo

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Oh, I signed up...but good at chess I am not.  :P

Once I start whipping the computer then I'll start playing with actual people. :)  For now my chess skills are...sub par at best.  I think it's mainly my refusal to have patience. :P

Zoo06 is my name, though.

~Zoo