“The awake person is not at odds with the world. He is a part of it, but not attached to the outcome. Like Jesus, he is ‘in the world but not of it.’ He watches as it all goes by, but he is also a participant. He knows most people are caught in the world but unaware of being caught, so he is compassionate, and does what he can to help others with their suffering.
…
Mainly, he watches as he plays his part and marvels at the complexity , the infinite permutations, the surprises, the certainties, and the uncertainties. He is calm most of the time, but sometimes his part requires him to be upset or to have some other emotion or reaction. This is being human. But whatever his mood, there is an underlying peace of mind, an underlying, effortless happiness.”
also,
“If, on the other hand, you are able to wake up and become more aware of what motivates you, you will see that you have picked up the paintbrush; you are painting the shapes of your feelings on that blank canvas. Because you are the artist and the author, you can paint anything you like. What you are painting is as ephemeral as anything in life, but the lines you draw, the shapes you form, and the colors you choose are what give your life meaning. While we are all influenced by the cultural and personal settings in which we live, some people find independence, becoming artists who can express the dictates of their own heart; others become proponents of schools run by others.”
6 comments on “Enlightened Living”
“The awake person is not at odds with the world. He is a part of it, but not attached to the outcome.”
I like what he’s going on about but … this is confabulation. “Not attached to outcome”?! Oooh, who would dare impunity to karma? Yes yes yes, of course all we need to is put a sympathetic spin on what he’s written and his meaning comes clear … but still. And in the first part … isn’t it a commonplace that the seekers are often out of step with their peers? marching to a different drummer on the road seldom taken? cutting against the grain? Here again, adjusting the spin pulls things together; I get my name from “phenomenal world” rather than “powers and principalities” ie the social domain.
I guess what leaves me feeling queezy with this sort of writing is how it presumes a lucid perspicacity while setting out basics … who with that degree of critical acumen (and I don’t mean educated intellect, I mean clear attention in the sense of prajna) needs to have the basics spelled out?
“Because you are the artist and the author, you can paint anything you like.”
Art for art’s sake? Unchecked by a wholeseome appreciation of karma, i.e. consequences i.e “outcome” we are motivated by merely the most superficial of titillations, be that frivolity or sadism.
I’m sure this can be seen as perverse of me … but “confabulation” (as I’ve been calling a lot of things lately) can serve to justify a whole lot of wooly-mindedness since it is not dead wrong.
“the lines you draw, the shapes you form, and the colors you choose are what give your life meaning.”
Hear hear! As though they matter … as though they have some “weight” … as though they excercise some effect … as though they make a difference … as though they are of /some/ consequence.
“Sing like you don’t need the money!”
“Practice as though your hair is on fire!”
“Approach the cushion the way a dusty elephant greets a mud-wallow!”
“Be of good heart!”
“Relax, have a cigar!” (Sorry, I’m inveterate … next time you get onto newsgroups check out alt.buddha.short.fat guy huh huh huh)
best of ’06 to you
I suppose it’s all in how you take the words. I naturally read “Not attached to outcome” as an expression of non-attachment, but many folks wouldn’t. I think that in the context of his book, which is explaining the workings of his Holosync technology, it’s a bit more clear, but his target audience of boomeritis-stricken folks does lead him to using language that’s a bit hazy and new-agey. He goes for the jugular of consumerism, but doesn’t attack boomeritis as well as perhaps he should. You can’t scare away the folks you’re trying to get evolving, I suppose.
Have a fine ’06 yourself.
“I suppose it’s all in how you take the words. I naturally read “Not attached to outcome” as an expression of non-attachment, but many folks wouldn’t.“
Just so. FWIW my take on karma is in-formed by what I picked up in cog-psych (see “schema theory”). Someone who’s sense of self-interest is somewhat less enlightened would quite likely find this a sophisticated rationalization, a refined justification for what is, in the end, an “I’m all right Jack” attitude.
“his Holosync technology, it’s a bit more clear“
Well ok … but the (forgive me) lack of rigour doesn’t decrease my uneasiness.
“You can’t scare away the folks you’re trying to get evolving, I suppose.“
🙂 … but, of course, the teacher has mastered prajna and upaya both before involving himself in others’ lives, yes? Else it might be a too cavalier attitude!
But yaa, those are the paradoxes and challenges … the historic Buddha is portrayed as having questionned the possibility of transmitting the dharma til he heard a boatman teaching his son to tune the lute with “Not too tight; not too loose.” I don’t proseletize [sp?] the point but the new testament’s “Don’t worry about the word; a spirit is with you who will inspire you” sounds right to me.
And FWIW the whole thing of engagement/attachment is very slippery … my zen training instructs me to err on the side of skepticism i.e. if what I’m doing seems like it might be acting to solidify ego then it’s safe to bet it is. 😉
cheers
p.s. thanks for the link to http://integralnaked.org/ … those high production values remind me of http://deoxy.org/
I’ve read about and interpreted karma in a evolving way since I started my exploration of it. It’s a shame it can so easily be interpreted as just determinism or otherwise lulling people into inaction. To me, it’s a calling of deep responsibility for our actions (and maybe more so inactions). It’s a challenge to convey that aspect of karma to a lot of folks, tough, isn’t it?
I do understand your uneasiness. If the technology and Bill’s overall framework weren’t as sound as I’ve found them to be, I’d be less forgiving of his less skillful choice of words in a lot of his writing. A lot of the promotion for Holosync I’ve encountered really turned me off, but the program does work very well, so I’ve been willing to cut that some slack. It has a great aspect of stimulating your brain so you can’t ignore just how fucked up you are (and then getting you beyond the pathology), and most folks need that.
Have you looked into Genpo Roshi’s Big Mind? You mentioned your practice being informed by psych, and I thought you might find his work in merging psychological science with Zen interesting. He takes a novel approach of working with ego to move to a place beyond it. Essentially, it challenges self to stop being so fucked up and realize its Selfhood by using psychological methods to get aspects of self to cooperate in the movement to realization of genuine oneness. Word is that it’s very effective. I know a few Zen practicioners and other folks who swear by it.
One thing I really dig about Integral Naked is that there’s a lot of focus on the fact that kensho or even satori isn’t the end of the road, that the development of skillful means and personal psychological problems are independant of a realization of true-nature. If you’re still fucked up and unable to act with any grace in the world your realization isn’t worth shit, right? It goes a long way to show how a lot of realized teachers can still have pathologies.
Please take this as a response rather than a reply
I crawled “Big Mind” … who would believe it was to find something substantially positive to say? The design is lovely … which actually indicates very little, as I’m sure you appreciate. The bio was impeccable … too long … I think it would have creeped out Maezumi Roshi as it did me. That the teachings were accessible by a link labeled “Media” is curious … the Press Kit dominated taxonomy? That the page carried “These JPG are professionally licenced and only for bla-blah use” did not relax me. That there were no writing by the master himself … well … go figure.
Know what came to mind just now as I watched “Band of Brothers” taking the Eagle’s Nest? Most schmooze yuppies’ kidz … who contends the hard questions of social justice?
<==== holds up hand BTW: ATM I'm reading big idea. I spent most of my afternoon with “Meaning for the Masses: Theory and Applications. for Semantic Web and Semantic Email Systems” [PDF]. That’s what I do for fun. *shrug*
stay well aka keep yer pecker up
p.s. read anything that speaks to “the great grief”?
i like it. it’s mystic without being hokey. thank you for posting it. i shared it with a few of my friends this morning and they enjoyed it as well. it spawned a few discussions, which is always a good thing. 🙂