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Anthem
1608 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 14 2006 : 1:47:10 PM
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As Jesus said, "You see the speck in your brother's eye; but you do not look at the plank in your own eye."
I am not religious but why not quote Jesus on Good Friday?
Self-enquiry is a regular part of my life. I notice odd behaviors or reactions that leave me feeling negative in some way, shape or form as I go through life and I want to get to the bottom of it. "Why am I so upset by this?" or conversely "why am I so elated in this situation" I find them both equally curious. I am sure others here are the same.
Sometimes I notice myself reacting illogically in a situation. For example, I see myself doing or saying something completely ego driven and I can't understand why. Sometimes I feel frustrated by lingering ego reactions but I have come to understand that too much emotional reaction to the aspects of ourselves we don't like can inadvertently perpetuate the negative pattern of behavior.
The reason for this background is the following question: does it serve us to tackle these behavioral "planks" in our lives or will meditation and practices just eventually sort them out? Does it serve us or accelerate us along the clearing out process or is it just easier to let practices do the dirty work for us? Do we serve ourselves by being conscious of the process or does this just take us further away from our true nature?
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yogani
USA
5242 Posts |
Posted - Apr 14 2006 : 4:09:58 PM
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Hi Anthem:
Thanks for the Jesus quote, and the stimulating plank ponderings.
It is an interesting question on whether to expend effort to solve the "puzzle of life," or just do our practices and let it solve itself.
I think it takes both. We all know the old saying, "God helps those who help themselves." Of course, that could apply to meditating only, but I think there is more to it. That is why we meditate and then go out and do. The blending of inner silence and outer puzzle-solving is essential to bring the process of transformation to fruition.
It reminds me of a lesson I wrote way back in 2003 (#36) called, "Meditation and the Fifth Dimension."
The implication there is that it is much easier to solve a puzzle when we can see in five dimensions, instead of only in four. Deep meditation is what gives us the fifth dimension. We still solve the puzzle, only it is easier to do with the extra seeing that inner silence brings us in every moment.
Of course, this is making the case for "self-inquiry," once inner silence is coming up. Certain practices are fifth dimension oriented and we cannot be very productive with them until we have that extra dimension. Sort of like trying to solve a three dimensional puzzle in two dimensions. I think to solve this one, ya gotta have five. 
The guru is in you.
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 14 2006 : 4:36:15 PM
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Anthem said:
The reason for this background is the following question: does it serve us to tackle these behavioral "planks" in our lives or will meditation and practices just eventually sort them out? Does it serve us or accelerate us along the clearing out process or is it just easier to let practices do the dirty work for us? Do we serve ourselves by being conscious of the process or does this just take us further away from our true nature?
A good question, and I agree with Yogani's answer: it takes both.
I've seen the question asked before in other forms, sometimes in contexts of Taoism and Zen Buddhism. Other ways of asking it are, 'Does not the cultivation of Virtue go against the Tao?', or 'If our True Nature is Perfection, why would we cultivate right action?'.
Sometimes people line up on both sides of the question. But I believe that the only good answer is 'both'. While it is true that our Spiritual Unfolding can produce great results that are eventually better than anything that Cultivation of Virtue can produce in itself, the fact is that that we need Cultivation of Virtue in order not to spread harm and to keep life good. In fact, the Cultivation of Virtue will keep life circumstances better and more conducive to Spiritual Unfolding for ourselves and other people.
When we think about it, life is actually full of issues which need many approaches to solve them. Wouldn't it be surprising if life itself needed only one?
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Apr 15 2006 : 4:13:29 PM
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quote:
Sometimes I notice myself reacting illogically in a situation. For example, I see myself doing or saying something completely ego driven and I can't understand why.
Hi Anthem,
The fact that you see yourself doing this.. and know there is something wrong here.. indicates that you are doing both.. without meditation you would not have seen this.. without self inquiry.. you would not have known how to tackle/analyze this.. look around you.. how many people you know right at this moment who would be able to analyze a situation like you just did.. and know it was not somebody else's fault.. but their own ego that makes a situation wrong.
quote:
The reason for this background is the following question: does it serve us to tackle these behavioral "planks" in our lives or will meditation and practices just eventually sort them out? Does it serve us or accelerate us along the clearing out process or is it just easier to let practices do the dirty work for us? Do we serve ourselves by being conscious of the process or does this just take us further away from our true nature?
Yes, I guess both.. but the second(self inquiry) does not come if the first(meditation) is not there.. and once the first is there the second becomes second nature.. not an effort any more.
Thanks for your question.
-Shanti |
Edited by - Shanti on Apr 15 2006 4:33:01 PM |
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the "plank" in our own eye
