--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_re...@...> wrote: > > "Life may have no meaning. Or even worse, it may have a meaning > of which I disapprove." - Ashleigh Brilliant > > I'm not quite sure who or what Ashleigh Brilliant is, > or was, but I catch his meaning, and I approve. > > One of the main differences I perceive between the TM > view of life and its possible "meaning" or "purpose" > and that of other spiritual traditions I tend to prefer > is that TMers -- on the whole -- seem illcontent with > Life As It Is, whereas many other spiritual seekers > do not. > > Strong Buddhists and Taoists I've met seem content > with Here And Now, and do their best to make the best > of what Here And Now presents them. In contrast, if > you look even at the sampling of "TM thought" we see > on this forum, many if not most of the things said > about the world by its adherents are anything *but* > content with Here And Now. They're more about long- > ing for "someday" and all that mythical "someday" > promises. If they're more blissed-out, "someday" > becomes "Any day now." But it's still not Here And > Now...it's always off in some theoretical future. > > And the import of "Any day now" is that things are > "not right" Here And Now. There is an assumption that > the world they perceive around them is *broken*, "not > right," and that they must do something -- anything -- > to CHANGE that world, or change themselves, to make > both of them "right." > > This early morning in Sitges, watching the street > cleaners do their thing from this cafe table, I find > myself underwhelmed by this tendency to view the world > as something that "needs work" because it doesn't live > up to their fantasies about what it should be, and to > disapprove of it and reject it as beneath them *until* > it lives up to their fantasies. > > Sitges is a tourist town. Tourists -- especially young > tourists and even more especially English tourists, of > whom we get more than our fair share -- tend to get > rowdy and drunk on a Saturday night. Thus if one wakes > up early on a Sunday morning and strolls out to find a > cafe in which to have a nice cuppa java, one finds the > street full of crap. Litter, bottles, paper fast-food > wrappings and occasionally even real crap. The streets > look as if thousands of people had been so wrapped up > in having a good time that they just threw their crap > anywhere they felt like throwing it. And, of course, > looking at the streets, there is no doubt that this > is litter-ally true. > > And then the street cleaners spring into action. Sitges > has the best street cleaning crews in the world. At 08:00 > the streets are a mess; by 09:00 they are clean and pris- > tine and scrubbed as clean as if no one had ever walked > on them. > > There is no question that the world *appears* better > after the street cleaners have done their thing. It is > aesthetically more pleasing. But is it really any "better?" > Does the street have more Buddha-nature or Tao or Brahman > or God to it after a good sweeping and scrubbing than it > did before? I think not. I think that God (if I believed > in such a fictional entity) was as present in the dirty > streets of Sitges on my walk to this cafe as it will be > in the clean streets of Sitges as I walk home. > > Superficially, the streets look "better." Superficially, > Fairfield, Iowa looks to some like "Heaven On Earth." > Superficially, if you bounce on your butt with other butt- > bouncers before reading the morning papers, the world is > "better" as a result of you doing so. Superficially. > > But the world really doesn't give much of a shit about > your puny notions of "better" or "worse," of "right" and > "just not right yet." The world just is. > > It's been my experience that the people who have gained > some sense of comfort with *how* it is in the Here And > Now are happier than those who have not, those who are > always seeking some mythical Then when things will all > be "better." That does not mean that these people do not > spend some of their time as metaphorical street cleaners, > trying to make Here And Now more pleasant for themselves > and other people, only that their sense of self and > their sense of "meaning" DOES NOT DEPEND on that > mythical "better." > > They are them-selves in the litter of post-Saturday night > reveling, and they are them-selves in the pristine clean- > liness of a tourist town pretending that it's always > litter-free. They have the ability to appreciate the > Buddha-nature of Here And Now *in* the Here And Now, > and not constantly live in hope of some mythical Then. > > Life as TMers wish for it might be neat, although I > suspect that their vision of "Heaven On Earth" would be > (in the words of Leonard Cohen) "as boring as heaven on > a Saturday night." I suspect that the real heaven, if > one exists, has a few street cleaning crews of its own, > and that they're as busy Sunday mornings cleaning up > after night-before revelers as the street cleaning > crews of Sitges are. I *hope* that the denizens of > heaven "party down" from time to time, and don't just > sit around playing harps and polishing their haloes. > And I *certainly* hope that the residents of the real > heaven, if one exists, have gotten over that infantile > wishing for something "better," some future life that > has more "meaning," or that better fits their fantasies > about Then, fantasies that keep them from appreciating > Here And Now -- Life As It Is. > > Because really...what are they going to fantasize about > once they're in heaven, eh? > > A "better" heaven? Heaven, release 2.0? >
I enjoyed your post Turq - thanks. Thought-provoking. Except for one thing: It may well be true (insofar as it is "true") of TMers. But your emphasis on TMers strikes a false note for me (as so often I'm afraid to say). Insofar as it is "true" I would say it is true of the human condition as much as anything. It's one of those old ones, no? Would you rather be Socrates fretting or a happy pig in shit? (OK - I'm guessing it'll be the pig!) You write: > One of the main differences I perceive between the TM > view of life and its possible "meaning" or "purpose" > and that of other spiritual traditions I tend to prefer > is that TMers -- on the whole -- seem illcontent with > Life As It Is, whereas many other spiritual seekers > do not. But you've surely heard about MMY and dead dogs' teeth?
