Where on Earth can an ego reside When in truth there's no out-or-inside? Great Mind knows no bounds! No place can be found For a separate self to abide.
Jeebus, you're on the ball, Michael, you must have avoided the mulled wine, brandy, port, sherries etc etc etc...
Yes, I think that the buddha realised under the fabled tree that 'Mara' was a phantom, a fake, that he didn't exist, that he and his armies are powerless and ineffective when the Buddha just continues to sit (of course there are already problems with equating a term like 'Ego', with all its various attendant, latter-day Western values and ideas, with a figure like Mara).
At the same time, in Western thought, the Ego has become a 'thing' , a sort of deity, like the devil (and I intentionally make that comparison as I think that owes a lot to how the 'Ego' is sometimes considered). A truth which Buddhism points to is that, when we stop doing it, the 'Ego' ceases to appear to exist.
At the same time I think it can be said that there is a valid universal sense of self which the universe realises very realistically and directly when it tries to run through walls or eat glass (or too much crimbo pud), say.
The Dojin Roku, translated into English as The Wayfarers Record, is a collection of thoughts, observations and shared teachings as presented by the Dojin, or Wayfarers, of the Boundless Mind Zen School. The purpose of this journal is to connect like minded individuals who understand their Zen practice to be a continuing journey beyond standardized Zen practices and independent of sectarian differences.
...Nuther Zen carol:
ReplyDeleteSi-e-lent night, Si-e-lent night,
Silent night silent night,
Si-e-lent si-e-lent si-e-lent night,
Si-e-lent si-e-lent si-e-lent night,
Silent si-e-lent niiiiiiii-iiiiiiite,
Si-e-lent si-elent night... nite nite.
Where on Earth can an ego reside
ReplyDeleteWhen in truth there's no out-or-inside?
Great Mind knows no bounds!
No place can be found
For a separate self to abide.
Jeebus, you're on the ball, Michael, you must have avoided the mulled wine, brandy, port, sherries etc etc etc...
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that the buddha realised under the fabled tree that 'Mara' was a phantom, a fake, that he didn't exist, that he and his armies are powerless and ineffective when the Buddha just continues to sit (of course there are already problems with equating a term like 'Ego', with all its various attendant, latter-day Western values and ideas, with a figure like Mara).
At the same time, in Western thought, the Ego has become a 'thing' , a sort of deity, like the devil (and I intentionally make that comparison as I think that owes a lot to how the 'Ego' is sometimes considered). A truth which Buddhism points to is that, when we stop doing it, the 'Ego' ceases to appear to exist.
At the same time I think it can be said that there is a valid universal sense of self which the universe realises very realistically and directly when it tries to run through walls or eat glass (or too much crimbo pud), say.
Regards,
Mad Dog (see new avatar for confirmation).
Harry, you’re back! We missed you. I was worried, and feared that maybe you had gotten cured! :-)
ReplyDelete