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Posted by Lian Dao on 11/12/2008, 9:57 am, in reply to "More than one of us , but less than two."
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--Previous Message--
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: However do you think that you would have
: arrived, for the want of a better word, to
: where you are today, if you had never read a
: goddam book in your life?
:
: ---------------------------
:
: It's a good question, Lian Dao, and gets to
: the matter of how we know what (we think) we
: know.
:
: I see it this way: If you don't already
: sense the metaphysical shit, you won't learn
: it from the printed page. What you sense is
: confirmed by the printed page, or not. The
: Really Really Wise Ancient Dead Ones are
: particularly good at getting us to recognize
: (or 'recall,' as Butch might say) what we
: already know.
:
: Or so it seems.
:
:
:
: Lian Dao,
:
: Existence is trying to get our attention any
: Way she can can. Kind of like shaking
: ourselves back awake right after we fall
: asleep. At first the body doesn't respond
: but if we keep at it we reunite with our
: body and so our body/mind complex wakes back
: up. So it is with our mystic heart, the
: whole of our being. There are methods for
: waking up those aspects of our being that
: are asleep. So some of us write books to
: ourselves and others. "Hey You, Wake
: Up" and other such titles are found at
: most bookstores these days.
:
: Personally, and this may an indictment of me
: but it is the truth, most of my best friends
: I have met in books. Alan Watts, well
: actually I met him a couple of times in
: Berkeley back in the 60's but I was just a
: snotnosed kid that was more interested in
: getting high and or laid than the nature of
: existence. Looking back I realize I was a
: prodigy, ok, an idiot-savant. I had my
: nature and that was good enough for me. But
: all beginnings come to an end and so it is
: with most if not all extremes. It was only a
: couple of years later that I read "The
: Book" and well, that and some Sandoz
: Samples and I have never been quite the same
: since. Can you tell? Don't answer that, it
: is a trick question. You fall into a rabbit
: hole if you answer it and I don't want that
: on Steve's conscience. He has enough to
: worry about what with Corky and his Summa
: Cum Lately Cult.
:
: Where was I, oh yeah, I read "The
: Book" while camped out in a tent for
: thirty days all alone in the mountains
: during the dead of Winter along the border
: of then West and East Germany, I was on a
: secret mission from God--yes I was, and
: haven't ever really quit reading books
: since. I have found that most people that
: write books are being sincere. I like
: sincere people. Especially those that go to
: all the trouble of writing a book. Serious
: I'm not so crazy about, but sincere
: resonates with me.
:
: If I were stuck on a desert island and could
: only have three books with me they would
: be.... boy this is a tuff one...
:
: "The Compleat Angler" by Izaak
: Walton. Not so much a book about how to
: catch fish as about how to be thankful that
: we may catch fish. ..."the very
: sitting by the river's side is...the
: quietest and fittest place for
: contemplation,". "The Compleat
: Angler" is not so much a book about how
: to fish as it is about how to be.
:
: Fishing cannot be taught by words but by
: practice.
:
: Ironically a second book might be Thomas
: Merton's "No Man is an Island".
: ..."what we are is to be sought in the
: invisible depths of our own being, not in
: our outward reflection in our own acts. We
: must find our real selves not in the froth
: stirred up by the impact of our being upon
: the beings around us, but in our own soul
: which is the principle of all our
: acts."
:
: No man is an island, he is a penninsula.
: Interfused, a part of that which has no
: parts. If we think about it existence is a
: conundrum. So maybe we shouldn't think about
: it so much. Moderation in all things,
: including moderation. "The whole
: mechanism of modern life is geared for a
: flight from God and from the spirit into the
: wilderness of neurosis. Even our monastaries
: are not free from the smell and clatter of
: our world." Amen.
:
: Admittedly a bit of a Fundamentalist and
: Continental, but still his words speak to my
: heart. Besides, which of us isn't to a
: degree the product of our environment. Let
: him that is without sin cast the first
: stone.
:
: A third book that might serve a person well
: on a desert island is "The Wisdom of
: Solitude", by Jane Dobisz. A student of
: Seung Sahn. ..."the cure for loneliness
: is solitude." A kind of modern Thoreau
: Jane tells about her experiences while
: living alone in a secluded cabin in the
: countryside of New England. ... "This
: is walking meditation. It's difficult not to
: be "on the way" somewhere while
: walking. Many meditation teachers say that
: during walking meditation you should take
: every step as though it were your first--or
: your last. That way you will appreciate each
: step. It's these small moments we take for
: granted, but these small moments are
: actually so important. They are the units
: that compose our life. Zen practice helps us
: to discover that everything we ever wanted
: is right here in front of us, if only we can
: slow down and recognize it."
:
: "The Great Way has no gate."
: How do you pass through? Zen Master Seung
: Sahn
:
: The journey is the destination. Chop wood,
: carry water.
:
You don't have to post the 'chop wood, carry water' disclaimer with me, old bean.
Do you think that you would have arrived at your journey with or without the help of the written word?
106
"The Tao is basically utterly open. Utter openeness has no substance. It ends in endlessness, begins in beginninglessnes".
-Li Daoqun
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