<ah-snip>
Yes, some of them are definitely like that, and make me think "was that really necessary?" Buddhists seem to typically consider their individual suffering more or less meaningless, but while this may be the case they're also supposed to avoid causing other people to suffer.
I have no idea if the koan makes any sense to you or not, so I'm going to assume not and monologue a bit. It stuck with me, because it made a lot of sense to me. Note: the following is strictly with regard to Zen. Tibetan Buddhism made a lot less sense to me, being much more structured and focused on reincarnation and liberation from samsara.
I don't think the suffering is supposed to be considered as part of the story. As is typical with zen stuff, it's meant to be interpreted as part abstract/part literal. The message is basically that enlightenment is synonymous with nothingness.
By the end of my buddhism class, my impression of the concept of enlightenment was that it's actually a really simplistic idea. In fact, it's not really an idea at all. There's no big intellectual eureka. It's more of about achieving a certain state of being, with two major elements -- dissolution of ego and thoughts/perceptions drawn into the present moment.
There is an intellectual element in that self-awareness (or mindfulness, as tends to be their preferred terminology) plays a large part in the process of seeking enlightenment, but it is simultaneously an obstacle that must be overcome. The problem is that it's hard to abandon our ego if we can't identify or understand it, but directing our thoughts towards self-analyzation can both reinforce the ego and draw us out of the present moment.
This is what I see as the purpose of meditation. A way to simultaneously draw oneself into the present moment and let intellectuality go, while also sinking deep into understanding of the nature of oneself. The best description of proper meditation I heard was it's not about literally clearing one's mind of all thoughts. Rather, it's about not actively engaging them. When you're in a good meditative state, you should be able to observe your own thoughts passing through your mind, the same as you might lay back on a hilltop and observe passing clouds.
And this is also why zen teachings focus so much on drawing the attention of one's intellect, and then shocking it with impossible ideas and paradox. It's because there is no real idea to be taught. The only way for a "teacher" to help is to punch gaps in the intellect's natural defenses that might allow intuition to reach through and grab onto something that the intellect cannot, because it inherently operates on egoistic pretenses.
Of course, I may be completely full of shit, because this is all based on what I learned in one semester about 9 years ago, and a real zen master would probably tell me I'm thinking too much and beat me over the head with a stick for writing this post. But it was my favorite class of my entire college career. I'd love to pursue it further.
Before one seeks enlightenment, rivers are rivers and mountains are mountains.
While one is seeking enlightenment, rivers are not rivers and mountains are not mountains.
After one has achieved enlightenment, rivers are truly rivers and mountains are truly mountains.
Haven't played Bloody Roar 2 in nine years. It's still good.
Oh wow. Haven't thought about that game in forever. I rented that one a couple times way back when and loved it.
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Topic: [MILK] There were 12 eggs here what did you do with them? (Happy thread?!) (Read 16268182 times)