by Introspection 151 Replies latest watchtower medical
This is a funny scripture because by definition
ALL habits are bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A habit like lighting up is bad, right?
where as one of walking is good, right?
Definition----INVOLUNTARY pattern of behavior acquired
by frequent repetition;manner of conducting oneself;
an ADDICTION.
Didn't mean to interupt your thread Intro, I just thought
it was something for people to think about.
Peace and Love-----Mark
Good point Mark, I certainly it's good to look at our conditioned mind.
Here's a bit more, speaking of a sense of humor in terms of what it is not:
You might ask then, "What about the great religious traditions, the teachings? They speak of discipline, rules and regulations. How do we reconcile these with the notion of a sense of humor?" Well, let's examine the question properly. Are the regulations, the discipline, the practice of morality really based on the purely judgemental attitude of "good" as opposed to "bad"? Are the great spiritual teachings really advocating that we fight evil because we are on the side of light, the side of peace? Are they telling us to fight against that other "undesirable" side, the bad and the black? That is a big question. If there is wisdom in the sacred teachings, there should not be any war. As long as a person is involved with warfare, trying to defend or attack, then his actions is not sacred; it is mundane, dualistic, a battlefield situation. One would not expect the great teachings to be as simple-minded as that, trying to be good, fighting the bad. Such would be the approach of the Hollywood western movie--even before you have seen the conclusion, you already know precisely that the "goodies" will not be killed and the "baddies" are going to get smashed. This approach is obviously simple-minded; but it is just this type of situation that we are creating in terms of "spiritual" struggle, "spiritual" achievement.
When my master and I
were walking in the rain,
he would say,
"Do not walk so fast,
the rain is everywhere."
-- Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
from "Crooked Cucumber:
The Life and Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki,"
by David Chadwick
Geez Seven, you know everything...
Princess posted a great John Denver Song at the
'cafe' this morning, I use to sing it with lots of passion,
because I always wanted to be somewhere else then
I realized that,
"Know matter where you go there you are"
The mind and the world are opposites, and vision arises where they meet. When your mind
doesn't stir inside, the world doesn't arise outside. When the world and the mind are both
transparent, this is true vision. And such understanding is true understanding.-Bodhidharma
Hello to Intro and Mark and all visitors to this thread.
Hui Tze spoke to Chuang Tzu, saying, 'I have a big tree, which people call useless. Its trunk is so knotted, no carpenter could work on it, while its branches are too twisted to use a square or compass upon. So, although it is close to the road, no carpenter would look at it. Now, Sir, your words are like this, too big and no use, therefore everyone ignores them.'Chuang Tzu said, 'Sir, have you never seen a wild cat or weasel? It lies there, crouching and waiting; east and west it leaps out, not afraid of going high or low; until it is caught in a trap and dies in a net. Yet again, there is the yak, vast like a cloud in heaven. It is big, but cannot use this fact to catch rats. Now you, Sir, have a large tree, and you don't know how to use it, so why not plant it in the middle of nowhere, where you can go to wander or fall asleep under its shade? No axe under Heaven will attack it, nor shorten its days, for something which is useless will never be disturbed.'
-Wandering Where You Will, The Book of Chuang Tzu
What do you know, there's an advantage to being useless! When I grow up I want to be a knotted tree..
A man is trying to keep a scorpion from drowning, each time he grabs the scorpion, the scorpion bites him. Someone looking at this says ."what a silly man"..."dont you know , its in the scoprion nature to bite you?" he says "YES! and it is in MY NATURE to love the scorpion"
Ah yes Stephen, the virtue of the Sanyassin..
Here's a couple more from the book of Chuang Tzu:
The Crooked Man with No Lips offered advice to Duke Ling of Wei, who greatly appreciated his words of advice, so much so that he thought ordinary people had backs too straight and lips too big. The Man with a Jug-sized Goitre offered advice to Duke Huan of Chi. Duke Huan appreciated his counsel, so much so that he thought ordinary people had necks which were too thin and short.If virtue is foremost, the physical body is ignored. When people do not ignore what they should ignore, but ignore what they should not ignore, this is known as true ignorance.
Hui Tzu asked Chuang Tzu, 'Is it possible for someone to be without emotion?'Certainly,' said Chuang Tzu.
'A man without emotion--can you realyl call him a man?' asked Hui Tzu.
Chuang Tzu replied, 'The Way gives him a face and Heaven provides a shape, so how can it follow he is not called a man?'
'But if he is already called a man, how can it follow that he has no emotion?'
'That's not what I mean by emotions,' said Chuang Tzu. 'When I say a man has no emotions, what I mean by this is someone who does not allow either the good or the bad to have any effect upon him. He lets all things be and allows life to continue in its own way."
Hui Tzu said, 'If he doesn't interfere with life, then how does he take care of himself?'
'The Way gives him a face and Heaven provides a shape. He does not allow either the good or the bad to have any effect on him. But you now, you wear your soul on your sleeve, exhausting your energy, propping yourself up on a tree, mumbling, or bent over your desk, asleep. Heaven gives you a form and you wear it out by pointless argument!'
"Why fret away your life?
See the willow tree by the river;
there it is, watching the water flow by."
-- Shibayama
