I really enjoyed the reading by Dōgen. I suppose that is why people choose their passage to write on though-because they enjoyed it. One day I’ll choose one that I absolutely didn’t like at all. If I can find one!
First of all, Dōgen defines an ordinary person as one who is deluded in the midst of enlightenment. He says that to be enlightened about delusion is to be a Buddha.
Pretty enlightening, huh?
I like citing the examples that are used, and Dōgen uses a really good one. He says that “if we watch the shore from a boat, it seems that the shore is moving. But when we watch the boat directly, we know it is the boat that is moving.” This is our lives. We are not permanent, though we may think that we are.
He shares with us about how there is the past and there is the future, but the present is independent of them. In the present state what I am typing on is a keyboard, in the past it was pieces of plastic and metal, and in the future it will be recycled? Or buried and decaying? I’m not too sure…but I am pretty sure that it won’t be a keyboard forever.
One of my favorite books is Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut. It’s been such a long time since I’ve read it, but I still remember how the “aliens” were describing their view on time and eternity to the main character. Time to them was like a mountain range, extending forever in both directions. You can point at a spot and call it the present, but just as soon as you say that, then it’s not the present anymore, it is the past. Time was just a concept to them.
But it seems that Dōgen taught mainly about focusing on finding truth within yourself, and not being led to it through any other means.
Wednesday, February 11
How to Use a Raft
Although I keep trying to look at each religion that we study through objective lenses, I find myself basing my opinion of them on my past experiences and my own upbringing. I judge whether a religion is worthy of being followed, or just a waste of time. However, since we’ve been studying a bit on Hinduism, Judaism, and now Buddhism, once I put myself in the shoes of a believer, I can’t seem to disapprove of the religion. There is lots of good merit to each one, and truth to be found immersed all throughout them.
For the reading about the Buddha, I find that I relate it a lot to what we have learned of Hinduism. It appears that clarity of mind and a sense of peace is honored above all else. Buddha seems to make it very simple for us by telling us that we can lead ourselves. Within ourselves is what we are looking for. “Be your own confidence.” He gives us an analogy of a man who uses a raft. If the man is reasonable, he will realize that it has been very useful to him in crossing the river and will leave the raft behind, as opposed to taking the raft (after he has used it to serve its purpose) and walking with it on his head wherever he goes.
I would think that this is what humans tend to do in their lives. I know I have. For example: Two years ago I was at the beginning stage in my relationship with a boyfriend I had- my outlook on relationships was different. Now that the relationship has ended, I have learned to have a different outlook on relationships, but I still find myself giving advice based upon the last feelings in the relationship. I know that the relationship served its purpose for the time that it lasted, and now that it is over, I don’t know if I should necessarily be so stubborn in my thought-processes. Instead of dragging that raft all over the place with me, perhaps I should open my mind to have another attitude towards relationships.
For the reading about the Buddha, I find that I relate it a lot to what we have learned of Hinduism. It appears that clarity of mind and a sense of peace is honored above all else. Buddha seems to make it very simple for us by telling us that we can lead ourselves. Within ourselves is what we are looking for. “Be your own confidence.” He gives us an analogy of a man who uses a raft. If the man is reasonable, he will realize that it has been very useful to him in crossing the river and will leave the raft behind, as opposed to taking the raft (after he has used it to serve its purpose) and walking with it on his head wherever he goes.
I would think that this is what humans tend to do in their lives. I know I have. For example: Two years ago I was at the beginning stage in my relationship with a boyfriend I had- my outlook on relationships was different. Now that the relationship has ended, I have learned to have a different outlook on relationships, but I still find myself giving advice based upon the last feelings in the relationship. I know that the relationship served its purpose for the time that it lasted, and now that it is over, I don’t know if I should necessarily be so stubborn in my thought-processes. Instead of dragging that raft all over the place with me, perhaps I should open my mind to have another attitude towards relationships.
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