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Posted by Lian Dao on 11/13/2008, 9:29 am, in reply to "Re: ontological terrorism"
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: 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?
:
: Lian Dao,
:
: You are not the only one that reads our
: posts.
:
: chop wood, carry water.
:
: All I know is what I feel.
:
Butch, 'our posts'????
Would that be 'our' as in the Royal 'we'?
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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