sprinkles of the Buddha

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Eelco
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Re: sprinkles of the Buddha

Post by Eelco »

Christine wrote:
Take away the words monks, Buddha and Dharma and enter "the field" -- Love is our greatest teacher. We are literally swimming in the sea of all the greatest teachers of all times, why focus just on one? The veils have lifted, we have access. There is a reason for this. To quote a new friend, we are the teachers now:
One would think that wouldn't one.
Alas it isn't so. Not that I am trying to convert anyone to Buddhism.
Having been around the block a few times here and there. I have yet to come across anyone with as clear a path towards liberation as the Buddha described in the Pali Canon.

As for being my own teacher.. It sort of depends on the goal.
And I have seen many a deluded goal in many a teacher.

With Love
Eelco
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Re: sprinkles of the Buddha

Post by Eelco »

I've been amazing myself over the question why the Buddha.
Like Christine said there are so many teachers around, In fact ever since around 2012 huge numbers of people have woken up. Have smelled the coffee so to speak. So why Eelco, with all your powers of discernment, with all you observational skills, your deep thoughts and wise conclusions, Why with your so often equanimus demeanor would you embrace that old fossil of a Buddha with his elaborate teachings about suffering. The church with Buddhist monks that have as many horror story as the catholic church when it comes to abuse, misdirection's and what nots.

So I thought it over. I looked back at the teachers and Guru's I have followed and learned from in the past. I thought about the books I've read and how i've adopted the insights and conclusions I've read in there as part of my worldview for a while. I've taken a look at todays teachers. Eckhart Tolle to name one. Mooij to name another. Krishnamurti, Yogananda even though they have been around for a while. Osho, because he has made me laugh out loud the most.

What comes to mind when I think about most of them is that Their enlightenment so to speak all seemed to happen without a clear cause.
AT least not a cause that is trainable or reproducible. Most talk about what it's like to be free. How it feels when one is free, how one thinks about stuff when one is free. Eckhart tolle doesn't go around teaching people to become really depressed, take a long walk at night and watch the sun set on a park bench for instance.

So what's different about the Buddha's teachings?
As far as I can tell, and preliminary conclusions based on experiments do look that way.
There is a path carved and ready to tred and follow all the way up to liberation.
The noble 8 fold path. When scrutinized reveals a yellow brick road where every step is to be tried and explored.
The exploration as well as the findings seem to consistently lead to where the Buddha promises they will lead.

One has to be willing to take a deep look at what it was that the Buddha was teaching though. Like many teachers these days. The teachings have become meme's that without context can mean anything you like.

Take the Buddha's breath meditation instructions.
Most people that claim to meditate will immediately assume they are doing what the Buddha thought.
Asking them about which 16 steps it contains though and how they are pro-actively working with the breath to get the desired results meets blank stares?

How do I mean manipulating and exploring the breath? Is there something to be desired? What do you mean fabricating the outcome of the meditation? I just sit there and watch isn't that enough...

Anyway..

WIth Love
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Re: sprinkles of the Buddha

Post by Eelco »

"Once you’re sensitive to watching the mind, there are three basic activities you can do with it.
One is to gladden it. In other words, try to bring the mind’s energy level up if it’s too low. Another is to settle it down and steady it, when its energy is too erratic, all over the place. Finally, you release it.

Generally, you want to bring the mind into balance before it can be released.
There’s a popular misconception that awakening is like a neurotic breakthrough. You go through a really bad dark night of the soul and all of the sudden the light opens and everything dark falls away. Although there are few accounts of awakening in the Theragatha and Therigatha that depict people going through really bad periods before reaching awakening, the general picture in the Canon is one of bringing the mind into balance.

That’s what the gladdening and steadying are all about. When you find the mind’s energy level is low, you’ve got to bring it back up to the proper level. If it’s too high, you bring it back down."
~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Balance & Release"

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Re: sprinkles of the Buddha

Post by Blue Rising »

I enjoy your sprinkles of the Buddha, Eelco. I had an odd thought a moment ago, and I thought to share it with you and see what you think.

Is it possible that the Buddhist teachings are the path that call to you, but not necessarily any more effective in getting a person to the point you seek?

I have thought a bit about what calls each of us, and to what destination. My best theory is that somewhere in each individuated consciousness lies the paths we have taken, I will say in "past lives" as that is a term easily understandable for this purpose. Perhaps Buddhism is familiar to you, or perhaps it is the path you chose before, or perhaps it is the path the Higher You chose for the human you this time around.

And perhaps that is why your theory is that it is the best path to get "there".

Just a thought.

Much Love,
Do not fashion me a maiden who needs saving from the dragons. I am the Dragon. And I will eat you whole.
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Re: sprinkles of the Buddha

Post by Eelco »

Blue Rising wrote:Is it possible that the Buddhist teachings are the path that call to you, but not necessarily any more effective in getting a person to the point you seek?
I am not sure I understand the question.
Is the buddhist path, a path that calls to me?
Yes at this point in time it does...

Could it be that this path is not necessarily a path that is effective for anyone? (Is that what you are asking?)
Possibly, although I am getting more and more convinced that the path as it is outlined in the Pali Canon will bring the results it promises to anyone that follows it. Which is a state of being called Nibbana that lies beyond suffering.

Effective in getting a person to a point I seek?
Here is where I am possibly misunderstanding your question. The Path is not effective to get people to the same point I am trying to reach.
I think everyone that is beginning to wake up will have some notion of what freedom is all about. These notions are highly personal and will differ as much from person to person. Near the end though I think that most differences will fall away. That is in terms of the planes of freedom we can see as separate mindstates that exist. As the options of freedom planes seems endless, My idea of freedom will probably be different than the plane you will choose.

I am pondering the idea though that until such a difference exists we will both be wrong. Until we find a unifying plane where we both will experience the same freedom and call it exactly that.
Blue Rising wrote: And perhaps that is why your theory is that it is the best path to get "there".

Just a thought.

Much Love,
Possibly yes.
I do see differences in the theravadan or more precisely the that forest tradition (which isn't even that old either) and other new age and old religion enlightenment ideas.
Maybe I haven't come across other such examples, but until I started researching that path in earnest. I had put it on the same shelf as most religions and path's to enlightenment. Research though has revealed to me that each step on the path is described in very fine detail. So one can verify for him or her self that the steps taken yield the results promised.

That alone is very precious in my book these days where many " new" religions or "old" religions in new forms emerge promising the highest high, but fail to deliver if you talk to followers of that path.

I realise I am sounding as an advocate for buddhism and it is possible my wish for all I have written above to be true to cloud my views. But there it is.

With Love
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Re: sprinkles of the Buddha

Post by Eelco »

All that said. It is of course true that the exercises as laid out in the Pali canon at the moment are exactly the sort of exercises that help me pacify my mind.
Take a step back and expand my consciousness in a way that is helpful for me to cope with my day to day hustle and bustle of experience and views..

I can imagine that they are not purrfect for anyone that is in a different place at the moment.
When I needed a cruth to hang my feelings of devotion. Following a guru was the perfect place to be as it was a tangible symbol to project those feelings on. same as projecting the idea of a peaceful mind unto the breath(meditation)

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Eelco
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