OOPS. Not what I was proposing. I am not a Buddhist or a meditator or do I worship suffering. I guess my devotional path is more likened to a Christian contemplative but I really don't want get stuck in such a label. I do understand your time-management issue. Same for me, which is a reason why I don't join with you and Ashvin in meditative exercises. My earthly time is limited. I'm a storyteller and I need conversation to hone my language. If not for you, no problem.Federica wrote: ↑Tue Aug 30, 2022 9:04 pmLou Gold wrote: ↑Tue Aug 30, 2022 5:47 pm Thank you, Federica, for connecting me with it again. So loving and lovely. Indeed, I was so happy with it that I played the devotional Namo Avalokiteshvara chant as I drifted off to sleep (yeah, I know one is supposed to do this to wake up but it was quite late for me ).
I can't affirm this as an insider but I hope so and want to agree with you. This is what I meant in saying Thay is a "real deal that vibrates the universal more than sectarian."Listening to it I was thinking that, interestingly, every word in this journal would pass the sifting of a spiritual-scientific validity test.
That would not be my take. The first noble truth is that everyone is suffering (self and others). About the larger truth revealed to him in his great vision he says:Still, in this journal, it’s not about seeing (others') suffering, as in your personal take on it - as far as I understand it.
My true nature, I realized, was much more real,
both uglier and more beautiful than
I ever could have imagined.
(2:37)
I totally agree. The "inner tear" is what motivates the Bodhisattva to compassionately remain here to reduce the suffering. Connecting to the post theme, it seems to me as a most liminal perspective.It’s more about the necessary inner tear that knowing the truth brings forth, which could extend to the responsibility that knowing the truth brings forth. What do you think?
I would like to continue this conversational line but I don't want to to distract from the good discussion of meditations you are having with Ashvin and Cleric. What do you think of splitting off a new thread?
Lou, I had that curiosity about Thich Nhat Hanh' quote, but I am neither particularly well-versed in his vision, nor, to be honest, I feel inclined to ‘work’ in that direction. Time is already tight on various fronts. Also I don’t see the value in considering suffering as such, as a starting point, or as an initial truth. Its reasons and consequences are better understood by assuming a more encompassing approach ‘from the ground up’. So I wouldn’t be a very appropriate or inspired contributor to a new thread on Buddhism, or on Thich Nhat Hanh, and I cannot commit to such a conversation.
So far, my best attempts have been with image making. I'll resist sharing my most recent attempt to portray a liminal perspective, lest it might be interpreted as the kid putting forth yet another "rolling stone" with "no direction home."