Saturday 18 October 2008

'...a bit of re-cycling...'

I haven't posted for a while, because I am getting used to a new regime of reading and thinking, due to being back at university.

It's a poor excuse on the face of it I know, but I am not yet attuned and anyway, despite being told that I look at everything critically and constantly dissect all matter of issues, thoughts and deeds, of myself and others I might add, I still feel that academic critical thinking is a step beyond my personal 'comfort zone'. One needs to develop the right vocabulary.... and that takes effort. Synapses use an abundance of energy to make new and tentative links in my poor brain. It wears me out. (Or is it simply a lack of time management skills?)......

At the moment I am deeply immersed in Buddha - essentially the way in which
nirvana is conceived in the Nichiren Tradition. I won't go on about it - well frankly, when plotting an essay, I always think it best to internalise as much as possible and only 'splurt' words when the concept is well past the embryonic stage.

The point is - following on from the last post, it strikes me that re-cycling might be quite a Buddhist concept...multiple re-births and all that. Perhaps not so much in the Nichiren tradition however; I get the feeling that Nichiren is more about infinite possibility, dynamic unity and encompassing wholeness through Nam-myo-ho-renge-kyo...It's dangerous to expose the astounding gaps in ones own knowledge - I hope that a suitable quantum filling of Bodisattva is present somewhere in the relationship between my ku ke and chu

I'll let you know if I find any; alternatively, if any of you are so enlightened......please do share it with the rest of us!!!

Or, and I'll leave you with this; is the answer to enlightenment really as simple as Nichiren said...after all?

3 comments:

Mrs. Hall said...

Well, that was as complicated question, but I will give it my best shot in terms of a simple answer.

I think that recycling is an excellent way to think about Buddism. Meaning, one thing can be taken and turned into another thing. After all, little buzzy atoms and particles are the foundation of all things, so really despite the form things take, we are all the same. There is no separation.

HERE is one of my favorite jokes:

What did the Buddist monk say to the hot dog vendor?

Make me one with everything!

(rim shot)

Connecting with this sameness, or the life force in each thing, that is more simple then I thought.

I use Birkram yoga and with deep breathing and certain bodily movements the energies get all bouncy and alert me to their presence.

And with more deep breathing I sink right into them.

Then, if the class does a chant together, good Lord ...

It the energies, or life forces, get all apey.

Glad to hear about your studies.

Namaste!

Holly Hall

Kaye Waller said...

I have to agree with Holly Hall. Everything seen and unseen is just vibrating molecules making their way through the cosmic soup. Energy is not created and it cannot be destroyed; it merely transmutes into something else.

Personally, I've never cared for the idea of Nirvana, of returning to the source, so to speak, and being absorbed by all the other molecules. I've spent many lifetimes becoming uniquely me, thank you very much, so the whole Zen thing has no appeal.

(Adopting my best Scrouse impression): Cor, now you've got me feeling like George Harrison!

Antler said...

Soup - sounds like plankton.....ew!

Mind you - Zen is another thing altogether. Sartori - a quick zap of realization then......

Lots of thought before the essay takes shape!