[QUOTE=monstro]
Yes, I could take the bus when it is raining. Or I could walk in the rain and learn how to deal with it. So that not only will I not be afraid of future downpours, but also so that I may be more compassionate towards those who are out in the rain without an umbrella.
[/QUOTE]
Or I could see the rain differently. I could decide that the rain is not a bad thing or a good thing. Rain is neutral. I have assigned a good or bad to it.
It’s not the thing itself that causes suffering, it is how I interact with the thing that causes suffering.
Grieving a loss is a natural progress that should not (IMO) be avoided. Often others say when we are sad or in pain, we are “suffering”, but really I think we are just sad and in pain. They are transient feelings that will pass, if they are allowed to do so. For me, it’s not the feelings that cause the suffering, it’s all of my attempts to avoid, erase, or change them that creates the suffering.
so let us back up here and take a look. I have pointed out what I consider misunderstandings in what you write. nothing personal is intended. I pointed out earlier in one of my replies that it is easier to talk to your experience than what you understood from a professor thirty years ago.
I have seriously practiced for over twenty years. Misunderstandings can lead to not so good consequences. I know of one suicide and one attempt, and that is without being privy to a lot of information. The point being, this is a serious practice that sets out to change your fundamental perspective on life and death, but there are perils on the path.
if you want to speak specifically to the issue raised. “All distinctions are trivial.” Let us do that. There are two levels of “truth”. One being absolute and the other being conventional.
Ref: Nagarjuna You can say “All distinctions are trivial” but it is from the Absolute perspective. From the Relative perspective
distinctions are not trivial. It is how you cross the road without getting hit by a car. Zen is a long term experiential practice, after ten years, you may get a glimpse of the Absolute, but that is not yet “Enlightenment”. URL=“Sandokai - Wikipedia”]Sandokai
From certain Zen schools, the highest level of teaching is the integration of the Absolute and Relative perspectives and a full merging of those two aspects. I am not there and I do not pretend to be there but I know the difference.
BTW, have you ever actually read the Lankavatara Sutra? It doesn’t seem as if you have. If you’ve really studied for 20 years it seems to me that should have been on the top of your reading list since it is one of the seminal scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism.
I disagree. The Judeo-Christian faith does promise instant improvement of life and happiness. The Mosaic law had comandments about hygiene and quarantine that prevented infections and spread of diseases thousands of years before microscopes. There are many texts in this faith that promote kindness and consideration for fellow humans.
I’m not gonna find all the bible verses but the book does promise the “peace of God” right here right now. **Philippians 4:7 **and promises succes in life, avoidance of problems and such right here right now.
I find the whole Karma-Nirvana concept a delayed cycle thing. Reincarnation towards Nirvana can take ages!!
The Judeo-Christian concept of judgement and resurrection is a 1-time affair. You die, you get resurrected on Judgement Day to hear the bad verdict or get a second chance in paradise on earth and make up your mind once and for all. Psalm 37:9-11 and Revelation 21:4
Besides, death is like an unconscious sleep so there is no sense of waiting ages. Ecclesiastes 9:5,6. You die and when you get resurrected it feels like instant.
Turbo compared to Buddhist slow-mo where you can reincarnate and climb or fall back on the karma ladder. Reaching the goal could take I]forever*! (and ever)
Further more, i know people that were in camps in WW2 that were in Buddhist countries or ran by soldiers from Buddhist cultures. Some barely escaped being made comfort-girls. They still shake when thinking back of the horrors…
Today in 2013 there is something terrible happening in Birma and Buddhist monks are the leaders of this terrible thing the Rohingya people must suffer.
If we shouldn’t be attached, why is there a billion dollar trade in Buddha statues? Isn’t that attachment? I’m not buying the Buddha, sorry.
Just to be clear, what I’ve objected to is what I’ve perceived to be an apparent dogmatism. One of the things I learned, and you should know this from the idealization of Bodhisattvas, is that teaching is to be tailored to the student and not the other way around. The corollary there is that dogmatism really has no place. That’s not to say there is no place for monastic discipline if one wishes to pursue that life. That is a different can of karma altogether. But to get wrapped up in What Would Buddha Do types of conversations is completely pointless - and worse I think.