Marsha, Right effort is not written as a dogma that tells the thinker how to think, for that would be the antithesis of Buddhism. But I do appreciate Mr. Hagen's personal opinion for what it is worth. Do you believe like Hagen?
Mark On Oct 24, 2011, at 1:05 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote: > Greetings, > > It's interesting that there are multiple types of _seeing_. There is > _seeing_ as the sense of sight, and there is _seeing_ as to understand > intellectually or spiritually. > > ------------- > > > “_Right effort_ means simply being present. It means being here, staying > here, and to _see_ what’s happening in this moment. It’s not about trying to > control, trying to bring something about --- like straining to achieve > enlightenment. This is much like trying not to think of an elephant. _Right > effort_ is naturalness --- naturalness of movement, naturalness of becoming > this moment. > > --- > > “This is not how we usually understand effort. Usually we make an effort > to control, or be different, or try something new, or improve the situation, > or ourselves. Human history is filled with this kind of effort. > > “And here we are with our improved human world that we’ve spent a great > deal of time and energy working on. We’ve improved the rivers and the lakes > and the land and our society and our ways of living to the point where we now > wonder if the human race will survive. > > --- > > “_Right effort_ is, first of all, cutting off the fragmented and fractured > states of mind that have already arisen in us. In these common states of > mind, the world appears “out there,” divided in various ways, with one thing > set against another. When we’re in such a state of mind, we _see_ things as > needing to be manipulated and controlled. The Buddha called such a state of > mind “unwholesome” because it doesn’t take in the whole scene that’s being > presented to us. > > “We have to _see_ where we can effectively apply our effort and where we > can’t. When we’re not _seeing_ we’ll put most, if not all, or energy into > the areas where we have no control. We’ll try to control situations, people, > and things over which, in fact, we have little or no influence. Sometimes > we’ll try to control our own inclinations and impulses. But it’s all a lot > like trying not to think of an elephant. > > “We must first _see_ what we can control and what we can’t. Otherwise > we’ll waste our effort in trying to do the impossible while ignoring what is > easily within reach. > > (Hagen, Steve, ‘Buddhism: Plain and Simple’, pp. 95 - 96) > > > > ___ > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
