Not taking strong sides isn't indifferent passivity. It is trusting the wisdom of the awakening heart to respond to life with compassion without becoming fixated on a specific way of seeing the world. 🙏
This is spot on, Simon. Such a beautifully expressed and much needed pointer or reminder at this time. What you're pointing to is what the world needs most! 🙏❤️
Freedom/oneness/consciousness/whatever-this-is apparently loves to take sides and have beliefs and opinions. I think this message can easily get misinterpreted and then you've got people struggling because they still have strong opinions and they feel like they shouldn't because it's "not nondual". Taking sides vs. not taking sides then becomes the this or that.
Over here, I can tell you I have a lot of very strong opinions, but I can never find the one who has 'em. No problem. Just a play of light.
This or that has been a real issue with me when exploring which spiritual path to follow. The dualist behaviour of my mind, has taken any peace that spiritual practice has to offer. Should I be a Buddhist, a Christian or follow self-enquiry. Even within Buddhism, my mind then asks, which school, Zen or one of the many other schools. It crazy how mind plays games and adds unnecessary complexity to life. When I'm able to drop this duality and simply be nothing, it's beautiful, I'm so at peace.
Great post. The problem is that some thoughts are alluring and initially very satisfying when we buy into them. Grand religious or ideological ideas (when believed) are extremely appealing as they give us a momentary feeling of "I finally get it!". But ultimately they must be blown away by the winds of change, as no thought can adequately capture the essence of truth. Truth is uncompromisingly itself, and our thoughts about it dont matter a dot.
Yes well said. The this verses that pattern is very conditioned into us. I see how others hold on so tight to their beliefs which is clearly creating stress for them. The terms around duality for some reason keep moving within my understand of what that means. Not something to be too concerned about given nothing is fixed. However when you mentioned that in your post it opened for me another definition as this or that being a representation of duality. I found that interesting in itself. It was a moment of spark connection which I valued. At the moment my standard answer to most this or that, good or bad is Maybe. From the famous Zen story.
But can taking sides really take you away from freedom. What freedom could it be when it's that fragile. I think I could be part of a war scenario and while shooting at my enemy the experience wouldn't become more or less by the act. In my view it's very plausible that circumstances force me to shoot or get shot. It's not unrealistic.
I'm not sure about exploring Awakening and then imagining shooting people as part of the heart's liberation. The freedom that is spoken about in the dharma is one where we no longer suffer or perpetuate the suffering of others. Shooring people and causing intentional harm is not what this path is about, even in a thought experiment. 🙏
Let's dare and take the thought experiment. Imagine the circumstances push you to make a decision, if you want or not, maybe even out of a reflex triggered by pain that's not under your control. Then what? Actually the word dharma is to handle with care since it refers to an unusually wide canon of rules, knowledge, viewpoints and recommendations spreading over centuries and as far as I know there were zen masters who broke legs and cut off fingers of their students.
Not taking strong sides isn't indifferent passivity. It is trusting the wisdom of the awakening heart to respond to life with compassion without becoming fixated on a specific way of seeing the world. 🙏
This is spot on, Simon. Such a beautifully expressed and much needed pointer or reminder at this time. What you're pointing to is what the world needs most! 🙏❤️
Freedom/oneness/consciousness/whatever-this-is apparently loves to take sides and have beliefs and opinions. I think this message can easily get misinterpreted and then you've got people struggling because they still have strong opinions and they feel like they shouldn't because it's "not nondual". Taking sides vs. not taking sides then becomes the this or that.
Over here, I can tell you I have a lot of very strong opinions, but I can never find the one who has 'em. No problem. Just a play of light.
This or that has been a real issue with me when exploring which spiritual path to follow. The dualist behaviour of my mind, has taken any peace that spiritual practice has to offer. Should I be a Buddhist, a Christian or follow self-enquiry. Even within Buddhism, my mind then asks, which school, Zen or one of the many other schools. It crazy how mind plays games and adds unnecessary complexity to life. When I'm able to drop this duality and simply be nothing, it's beautiful, I'm so at peace.
Thank you for sharing this. Peace for the soul
Great post. The problem is that some thoughts are alluring and initially very satisfying when we buy into them. Grand religious or ideological ideas (when believed) are extremely appealing as they give us a momentary feeling of "I finally get it!". But ultimately they must be blown away by the winds of change, as no thought can adequately capture the essence of truth. Truth is uncompromisingly itself, and our thoughts about it dont matter a dot.
Nicely put, Simon. We all are drawn into judging right from wrong every day, and it's such a waste of energy.
Yes well said. The this verses that pattern is very conditioned into us. I see how others hold on so tight to their beliefs which is clearly creating stress for them. The terms around duality for some reason keep moving within my understand of what that means. Not something to be too concerned about given nothing is fixed. However when you mentioned that in your post it opened for me another definition as this or that being a representation of duality. I found that interesting in itself. It was a moment of spark connection which I valued. At the moment my standard answer to most this or that, good or bad is Maybe. From the famous Zen story.
But can taking sides really take you away from freedom. What freedom could it be when it's that fragile. I think I could be part of a war scenario and while shooting at my enemy the experience wouldn't become more or less by the act. In my view it's very plausible that circumstances force me to shoot or get shot. It's not unrealistic.
I'm not sure about exploring Awakening and then imagining shooting people as part of the heart's liberation. The freedom that is spoken about in the dharma is one where we no longer suffer or perpetuate the suffering of others. Shooring people and causing intentional harm is not what this path is about, even in a thought experiment. 🙏
Let's dare and take the thought experiment. Imagine the circumstances push you to make a decision, if you want or not, maybe even out of a reflex triggered by pain that's not under your control. Then what? Actually the word dharma is to handle with care since it refers to an unusually wide canon of rules, knowledge, viewpoints and recommendations spreading over centuries and as far as I know there were zen masters who broke legs and cut off fingers of their students.
This is not true! A true master cannot be shaken by the world but that doesn't mean one is indifferent to the world.