Buddhist discourse on happiness

[Guest guest]

Hi Greg-ji,

 

I needed some tme to reflect a little over this issue, which I found very

intriguing and interesting.

 

You haven't seen me bite hard because you didn't see me at the Kundalini Gateway

list.

I did say a little farewell to arms after leaving the list.

 

Feeling like a cat sneaking into a Buddhist temple to spy on the monks and the

going ons there:

 

On Wed, 16 Aug 2000 17:21:22 Gregory Goode wrote:

>Originally, nondual teachings were given under the presupposition that the

>person had been doing regular practices like the Buddhist discourse for

>years and years. Therefore, the Buddhist discourse would have been no

>surprise. This is because in the cultures where they arose, Advaita and

>the emtpiness teachings of Buddhism, like Kabbala, were "secret" teachings.

> This meant that the teachings were given only to the people who practiced

>the orthodox parts of the religion for a long time.

 

I find this intriguing, and well understandable.

If not anchored in a practice or philosophy that emphasizes kindness, generosity

and understanding, along with a philosophical understanding of emptiness,

it is too easy for a practitioner to interpret the words as some kind of

exercise in nihilism; nothing exists, therefore everything is allowed.

The carrying out of this view could of course create some social and practical

problems.

 

This gap b/n emptiness teachings and the relation of the practitioner to the

world in general, to existing morals and values, is something that seem to come

up a lot on this list. And I don't know, maybe with a firm base in a more

"concerete" teachings, this gap would not exist.

Perhaps it is yet another problem of transplanting teachings from East to West.

 

Along with the emptiness, desires should also go,

I guess emptiness also includes lack of desire,

but for the not yet desireless practitioner,

fore tastes of emptiness can be either extremely

frightening and cause an instant contraction of the ego which can be quite

disastrous and even lead to insanity or very very odd and neurotic

ego reactions, or a sense of existantial nihilism, an existential void of sorts,

which may not be positive either.

 

I have yet to find examples of this kind of reaction in long time practioners of

established monastic systems. I do believe one reason may be, as you suggest,

the initial establishment of a basis in a teaching and then slowly being

introduced to

emptiness teachings and evolving into this through long time personal practice

and experience. There is something said for sticking to a teaching and also for

taking it slowly and gradually.

>Advaita for example - I once had to take a written

>exam from an Indian teacher, in order to begin a study of Vedanta. It was

>two pages of single-spaced questions - including what devotional practices

>I'd done in any tradition, how I get along with my parents, neighbors, and

>what charities I donate to.

 

That was a nice way of checking if someone was ready for the teachings.

 

Charities ? Oh... *;

>But these days, all the non-dual teachings are an "open secret," available

>on Amazon.com and in Barnes & Noble, along with capuchino. Open because

>the books are right there on the shelf. Secret because the teachings don't

>appeal to everyone

 

Yes, I have seen this kind of self secretness effect many times. Most ppl I know

of would not be interested in questions such as consciousness and witness state

and would actually laugh at the idea of spiritual liberation.

>I agree with you - these Buddhist recommendations are very down-to-earth,

>very difficult, and very worthwhile, whether one prefers a dual or a

>non-dual metaphysic. They are actually much more powerfully transformative

>for a pleasant life than a library full of non-dual philosophy/psychology

>books!!

 

I can very well believe that.

There should at least be no loss in trying to adhere to such happinesses, only a

gain for one's surrounding human beings.

 

Thank you again for sharing your knowledge with us.

 

I also liked your description of the story of Amithaba and the Western Pure

Lands.

After reading the line where you state that Amithabas vows have become

fulfilled, I think I got a little glimpse of the pure land. ;D

I like the idea that purity is now and that we are all reborn in the pure lands

because of

Amithaba and others' practice in the past.

A nice view.

 

Love,

 

Amanda.

 

 

 

Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com