tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2452212375265023297.post396712663948045894..comments2023-04-12T05:38:07.136-07:00Comments on The Dojin Roku: Who is Your Master?Koro Kaisanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04519201399219325579noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2452212375265023297.post-34653959728368790042010-06-27T08:32:46.122-07:002010-06-27T08:32:46.122-07:00When you realise that death in all its forms is ju...When you realise that death in all its forms is just fine, then you can be happy. Sort of. <br /><br />In the meantime, I'm ok with not having an axe in my head, thank you.<br /><br />PS: I'm starting to talk zen-like. It scares me :)Pablohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00248665795674538042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2452212375265023297.post-21666594964939448582010-06-27T00:21:33.551-07:002010-06-27T00:21:33.551-07:00PABLO: "exchanging parts with the universe so...PABLO: "exchanging parts with the universe sounds pretty disgusting."<br /><br />Often on this blog I'm sure I write complete nonsense - and sometimes I read stuff that seems pretty odd! - but the process can be really, really helpful. People write stuff that clarifies issues.<br /><br />Such as this business of exchanging parts with the universe. We can't avoid the truth of it. As a result of our typed conversation, Pablo is now infected with Michael and Michael with Pablo. His thoughts have got into my head and (Sorry, Pablo!) vice versa.<br /><br />So here's today's moment of clarity:-<br /><br />It is when we have become content with the notion of exchanging parts with the universe that we have lost our attachment to self.<br /><br />(I'm not claiming I'm always in that state: come at me with an axe and I'll want to keep the blood inside my skin and the axe outside.)Michael Pockleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11374336639577795927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2452212375265023297.post-34883317237131161362010-06-26T21:05:14.624-07:002010-06-26T21:05:14.624-07:00I don't know who I am... how would I know who ...I don't know who I am... how would I know who is my master?Doshinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14443151189420417785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2452212375265023297.post-31946851577441407022010-06-26T19:21:33.466-07:002010-06-26T19:21:33.466-07:00Hi Michael
See? The quote marks get annoying (I g...Hi Michael<br /><br />See? The quote marks get annoying (I get irritated when people in my meditation group start talking about "my ego" or "your ego"...)<br /><br />"The universe flows into Pablo and Pablo flows into the universe, universe and Pablo exchanging parts constantly."<br />That may seem quite weird if you read it out of context. I mean, exchanging parts with the universe sounds pretty disgusting. Just my opinion.<br /><br />Past Pablo has just told me that he's ok with you rephrasing his words. They seem more like "your" answers, though :P<br /><br />I don't know about the difference between Indian and Chinese ontology (last time I tried to understand Zen ontology it gave me headaches). I just feel my body and something that seems like my mind, and I'm just typing this. I hope it is good enough for enlightenment.<br /><br />And, for the record, I'm not hard on myself, not anymore: I used to be before I meditated, then I decided it was silly to suffer twice (first for feeling anger, sadness or whatever, and second for feeling guilty for feeling bad in the first time...what's the point?).<br /><br />Harry, about your last paragraph, a guy came to our meditation group last month, and he said he wanted to meditate to "get rid of himself". I just laughed and thought: "Well, good luck with that, man!".Pablohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00248665795674538042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2452212375265023297.post-55855544600303308602010-06-26T13:36:28.858-07:002010-06-26T13:36:28.858-07:00Hi Pablo,
"I" thought "you" t...Hi Pablo,<br /><br />"I" thought "you" thought that. (Ok, I'll quit the annoying quote marks now.)<br /><br />Yes, you're not the you that posted your original message. The universe flows into Pablo and Pablo flows into the universe, universe and Pablo exchanging parts constantly.<br /><br />So don't be so hard on yourself!<br /><br />May I therefore rephrase your answers? (Hey, they're not your answers any more, so I can do what I like!)<br /><br />a) Who is your master?<br />There is nobody to master. I am constantly changing, so masters are constantly coming into and out of existence.<br /><br />b) Who makes you suffer the torment of the world?<br />The universe sometimes expresses itself as suffering.<br /><br />c) Who has imprisoned you with their thoughts or words?<br />Illusions are part of the fabric of the universe.<br /><br />d) Who is Mara?<br />See (c).<br /><br />See? Not your fault! And if it was your fault, it isn't any more!<br /><br />OK, I'm having fun, but this is a serious point, and perhaps illustrates the difference between Indian and Chinese ontology.Michael Pockleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11374336639577795927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2452212375265023297.post-56838219814730972142010-06-26T13:31:28.238-07:002010-06-26T13:31:28.238-07:00Who is Mara and why does he sit under the Bodhi Tr...<i>Who is Mara and why does he sit under the Bodhi Tree?</i><br /><br />Miles,<br /><br />Good question.<br /><br />Mara sits under the bodhi tree so that we may meet our self, so that we may meet a master, and so that he may be fully realised and liberated.<br /><br />What does a buddha sitting under the tree realise without Mara?<br /><br />What a pity that people equate him with 'the Ego' or whatever and think of him as inferior, unreal, or impure. He's a function of ourselves, of reality, and 'he' is not inherently harmful, inferior, impure until we render him thus. This is exactly how Buddhism has become adopted as a subtle, and not-so-subtle, form of self loathing here in the West.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />Harry.Harryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05168631752214481563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2452212375265023297.post-83062574705083998412010-06-26T12:31:34.361-07:002010-06-26T12:31:34.361-07:00Hi Michael
Thank you for your advice. I used the ...Hi Michael<br /><br />Thank you for your advice. I used the term "me" because I don't like to write sentences saying "not-me", "my ego", or any other term you can think of. It's just so tiring.<br /><br />And, better than "looking" at me as an illusion, is "seeing" it. Pablo doesn't exist as a constant. The Pablo that started writing this comment is already gone. Sometimes I forget it, but there's always the sensation that "I" am changing every day, that I don't know myself, that I don't know what Pablo is, or what he's supposed to be. <br /><br />Just like the seed becomes a tree and doesn't remember how it was born...Pablohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00248665795674538042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2452212375265023297.post-61342704147477616132010-06-26T00:20:38.080-07:002010-06-26T00:20:38.080-07:00Hi Pablo,
have you tried looking at yourself as a...Hi Pablo,<br /><br />have you tried looking at yourself as an illusion?<br /><br />I find that helps.<br /><br />MichaelMichael Pockleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11374336639577795927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2452212375265023297.post-53493331678955898102010-06-25T10:20:41.184-07:002010-06-25T10:20:41.184-07:00Hi Miles,
Sometimes, unknown to myself maybe, I w...Hi Miles,<br /><br />Sometimes, unknown to myself maybe, I wish I had a Master to blame it all on.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />Harry.Harryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05168631752214481563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2452212375265023297.post-54195252540104542592010-06-25T10:15:46.069-07:002010-06-25T10:15:46.069-07:00a) Who is your master?
Dukkha, suffering.
b) Who ...a) Who is your master?<br />Dukkha, suffering.<br /><br />b) Who makes you suffer the torment of the world?<br />Nobody but me.<br /><br />c) Who has imprisoned you with their thoughts or words?<br />Myself.<br /><br />d) Who is Mara?<br />He is a part of me, and so he accompanies me wherever I go.Pablohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00248665795674538042noreply@blogger.com