Excellent, thank you Jenny! Your comment about abandoning rules in meditation brought to mind something Stephen Batchelor spoke about at St Paul’s Cathedral in London when he considered what was distinctive about what the Buddha taught. The fourth aspect he described as being:
ʻ…the Buddha’s emphasis on self reliance, on becoming autonomous. Again, a phrase you find in the early texts quite a lot is: “the person who has entered into the path has become independent of others in the Buddha’s teachings”.
This came to mind when replying to a comment to a recent post:
Thank you for your comment, and I'm glad something in my writing connected with you.
I am not sure I yet fully grasp the insight I described having on retreat, on rules / no rules, right /wrong. It feels vast, beyond my current comprehension. It includes:
Following rules
Not following rules
Having opinions, and not having opinions on rule following
Agreeing with those who have opinions on rule following
And disagreeing with those who have opinions on rule following
Having no thoughts on this either way!
Aligning ourselves to our highest aspirations (or not)
Changing our perspectives accordingly (or not)
Being happy (and not)
Being free (and not)
We cannot fall out of unity / wholeness. This is the cosmic dance! It feels wild and unreasonable - and exciting.
Excellent, thank you Jenny! Your comment about abandoning rules in meditation brought to mind something Stephen Batchelor spoke about at St Paul’s Cathedral in London when he considered what was distinctive about what the Buddha taught. The fourth aspect he described as being:
ʻ…the Buddha’s emphasis on self reliance, on becoming autonomous. Again, a phrase you find in the early texts quite a lot is: “the person who has entered into the path has become independent of others in the Buddha’s teachings”.
This came to mind when replying to a comment to a recent post:
https://secularbuddhistnetwork.org/why-do-some-people-follow-dharma-teachers-who-demand-obedience
Thank you for your comment, and I'm glad something in my writing connected with you.
I am not sure I yet fully grasp the insight I described having on retreat, on rules / no rules, right /wrong. It feels vast, beyond my current comprehension. It includes:
Following rules
Not following rules
Having opinions, and not having opinions on rule following
Agreeing with those who have opinions on rule following
And disagreeing with those who have opinions on rule following
Having no thoughts on this either way!
Aligning ourselves to our highest aspirations (or not)
Changing our perspectives accordingly (or not)
Being happy (and not)
Being free (and not)
We cannot fall out of unity / wholeness. This is the cosmic dance! It feels wild and unreasonable - and exciting.