Fran, thanks for your observations. I had read the article a few times and upon seeing your criticism of a false dichotomy (free/not-free), I re-read it again. Sadly, I couldn’t find such a thing. Perhaps you could expand on what you read that gave you this impression please? Thanks.
Yes, Vajrayana is a view that isn’t written about as much as Mahayana and Theravada. And, I’ve found apparently conflicting views within any one set of tenets, mostly depending on the level of understanding of the writer. Yes, there do also appear to be comparisons with eschatology. In practice, I find the notion of theurgy present in Buddhism and many other paths, Esoteric Christianity included. Even though I’ve known the definition of the term for a long time, it has taken me many many years to know what this is. Alan seems to be hinting at a similar methodology in this article, no? Yes, the notion of ‘becoming’ is powerful, isn’t it? At this point in my life, using the analogy of the Tarot, having started out as a Fool and having traversed the entire deck, I find myself returning as the Fool too…just with the wisdom of having worked the entire path involved. This is an analogy for the mystery schools too. Regardless, currently I find my personal work is to just be present. It is only ‘here’ that I find the divine. In this way, even our old friend Timothy Leary got it right! :-) On Oct 25, 2:03 am, frantheman <[email protected]> wrote: > There's a lot of interesting stuff here, Orn, imo, some very good > observations. A few short comments: > > One approach which I find useful is the question: "Freedom from what?" > - and the implication, freedom for what? > > Regrettably, Wallace occasionally wanders into the (false) dichotomy > free/not-free, although I appreciate that it's difficult not to when > trying to make arguments in this context. That said, his basic intent > seems to be to go beyond this dialectic. This problem arises > frequently in many presentations of Buddhist teaching when people work > with the image of not-enlightened/enlightened - although I think that > this has more to do with the difficulty of expressing some ideas in > clear language/argument. > > I find the ideas he develops from the concept of Vajrayana > interesting. Although (as most of those who have been around here for > longer know) I definitely do not describe myself as a Christian, I > find it similar to the Christian concept of "Eschatology" in the sense > in which more creative theologians work this out in the idea of the > contemporaneous interaction of the "now" and the "not yet." > > All of this can be put in a general context of various thought/idea > models, which can help us move on a bit farther and need not > necessarily be put into direct opposition to each other (a bit like > the blind men and the elephant). From my personal stand-point, I find > various thought-models which focus on "becoming" more useful - at this > particular point in my own story. For that reason, I'm inclined to use > images/metaphors like "journey", "adventure", "vector", (perhaps even > "pilgrimage", although this term has some problematic connotations). > This gives a picture of life as a journey into depth, experiencing > more wonder and beauty, discovering simultaneously more complexity and > simplicity, moving from less freedom to more freedom, from less > enlightenment to more enlightenment, from ignorance to more wisdom, > etc. Growth, with all that involves. Not that this journey is > continually linearly progressive, like most ways it takes all kind of > twists and turns and like any good adventure sometimes takes side- > tracks or even goes backwards for a while. But all that goes to make > up the story, the personal artistic masterpiece that is every > individual life. I'm reminded of Bilbo's dangerous road, starting > right outside your front door ... > > Francis > > On 25 Okt., 08:58, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I guess I was also looking for criticism, analysis, opinions, etc. > > about this too...In other words: > > > What do you think? > > > On Oct 24, 4:53 pm, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > "B. Alan Wallace addresses the topic of free will: how Buddhism > > > focuses on how we may achieve greater freedom in the choices we make, > > > rather than struggling with the metaphysical issue of whether we > > > already have free will. > > > Central to the question of free will is the nature of human identity, > > > and it is in this regard that the Buddhist view of emptiness and > > > interdependence is truly revolutionary..." > > > > A new article by Alan, the entirety of which can be read at: > > > >http://www.sbinstitute.com/readinglibrary.html > > > > (the first link on the page)- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
