WOW, that was some deep shit. i would like to take this opportunity to thank you for a long thought ought answer. it looks like you covered all the angles and didnt leave anything out. your alot farther than i am down the path because me personally i would have felt anger the moment the salesperson ignored me. im sure i would have thoughts of hurting that person for being so rude. All this would have accomplished is suffering within myself and i tell myself its not worth it but due to years of feeling this way it would have tooken over once again. i look forward to the day where i can remain completely calm inside during a difficult situation. Mack
--- In [email protected], Neutral Milk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 7/15/05, mackkup <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > you still havent answered the question. all you have done is talk > > about Buddha. answer the question directly and dont tell any stories > > that you have read or heard about. Its easy to repeat spiritual > > sayings and teachings but to live by them is something different. Mack > > OK. Everybody wants something for nothing. You obviously firmly > believe that someone should be able to chew your food for you and then > give it to you intravenously. > > Of course, everyone is free to think whatever the heck they feel > inclined to think. However, that, my good fellow Buddhists, does not > constitute true freedom. Such 'freedom to think whatever you feel > like' is very deceptive. > > Anywho, on to answering the question: > > "so then what would Dharma as our guiding principle tell us to do?" > > Dharma teaches several fundamental things. These things tend to go > against the common-sense understanding that gets established in human > society by consensus: > > 1. Everything that happens, happens for a very good reason > (common-sense consensus tends to view many events as being dicey, or > as being a fluke, in other words, common-sense does not see any rhyme > or reason to many daily events) > > 2. Everything that happens to me, happens because of something I did > previously (common-sense understanding denies this and holds that > majority of things that happen to us are whimsical, capricious) > > 3. Every event I am presented with is a lesson offered to me. I always > have a choice -- learn from that lesson, or 'drop out'. If I choose to > learn, I move on to the next lessons. If I choose to drop out, the > very same lesson will keep recurring as long as I attempt to run away > from it (common-sense understanding holds that this way of looking at > things is reading too much into the objectively fairly chaotic and > unpredictable stream of events) > > 4. Any time an event raises the affirmative feelings of separate self, > ego, life or soul, it is acting like a finger pointing to the deluded > state. The Dharma teaches that there is no, nor could there ever be an > Ego, a separate self, a soul, or a life (common-sense hold > diametrically opposed views on these things) > > > So, in the light of the above fundamental Dharma teachings, if I > experience someone giving me a cold shoulder, such as a lizard > salesperson pretending he can't hear me, this is how I would behave: > > 1. As a full time serious Dharma practitioner, who had made serious > vows to study and practice Dharma day and night, without any let up, I > would immediately recognize that this event is not just a fluke. I > would maintain awareness, right then and there, that there is a very > good reason that the universe is treating me that way. This > recognition will have beneficial effect on my overall state, as I > would instantly feel less irritated. By attempting to look at the 'big > picture' right out of the gate, the tension usually tends to ease up. > > 2. Furthermore, I would also become mindful of the fact that this is > happening to me right now because of something I did previously. I may > not be able to know exactly what is it that I did that conspired to > manifest in these particular causes and conditions, but I would > unmistakably know that there is a very clear and undeniable causal > pathway that brought me to this very moment, pregnant with conditions > and implications. This recognition will diffuse any potential > resentment I may start feeling toward the salesperson, as I now place > the entire onus of the ponderous situation on my own shoulders. It is > all entirely my own responsibility, and no one else's. > > Immediately, if I manage to see the situation that clearly, I feel > empowered, in charge, and in full control. > > 3. Going even deeper than that, I would strive to recognize that this > is a lesson, offered to me for my own progress. I will be aware of the > choice I am faced with at that moment: take the lesson, do the > gruelling work, and move on to 'greener pastures', if you will, or > goof off, indulge my lower passions, skip the lesson, drop out, and > blame the other sentient being for my travails and tribulations. > > If I accept the challenge (the lesson), my sense of calm, my sense of > control, increases manifold. Otherwise, I feel like a blade of grass > caught in the whirlwind. > > 4. Finally, I will recognize that any feelings of upset, hurt, > resentment, feeling left out and so on, that may arise in me due to > that event, are merely manifestations of my deluded state. Such > feelings arise because I firmly believe and hang on to the notion of > Ego, self, soul, life. All these things are non-existent, imaginary, > and according to the Dharma teaching, they can never ever exist, no > matter how hard we wish for them to be real. > > Realizing that, I would be instantly liberated. > > Not only that, I would also, at that moment, liberate all sentient beings. > > That, my good fellow Buddhists, is called 'sudden enlightenment'. > > The above would be my answer. I realize that it's a 'tough sell', and > that people who do not have a good grasp of Dharma will ridicule my > worldview, but that's how it is. > > "Upon hearing the truth, gentleman of low rank laughed his head off." > (Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching) Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
