Some quotes from the book Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner 1. On ‘Things would be better if…’ “Every single human being in the world at some time thinks that “If only” this or that one of our conditions could be met then we’d all be set. “If only I had a girlfriend / boyfriend / million bucks, then I’d be happy.” Or in the case of the more spiritually minded: “If only I were enlightened, then that would settle everything once and for all.” Think again….We always imagine that there’s got to be somewhere else better than where we are right now: this is the Great Somewhere Else we all carry around in our heads…But there’s no Somewhere Else. Everything is right here.” 2. On ‘Things should be different than they actually are! GRRR’ “When certain Buddhist scholars elucidate this point they usually say that even if you get what you want it’s still suffering because it won’t last. This isn’t exactly wrong, I suppose, but to get a bit closer to the point you need to look at what suffering really is. Suffering occurs when your ideas about how things ought to be don‘t match how they really are. Stop for a second and look at this in your life right now. It’s important.” “The first noble truth, suffering, represents idealism. When you look at things from an idealistic viewpoint everything sucks, as The Descendants said in the song called “Everything Sucks” (from the album Everything Sucks). Nothing can possibly live up to the ideals and fantasies you’ve created. So we suffer because things are not the way we think they ought to be. Rather than face what really is, we prefer to retreat and compare what we’re living through with the way we think it oughta be. Suffering comes from the comparison between the two.” “You need to learn to observe yourself clearly and with a penetrating honesty that melts right through your own thoroughly built-up defenses. And trust me, this is far more difficult than it sounds. Reality is here and now. The universe is where you are at this moment. The most important action you can possibly take is what you do right now. Be completely naked. Be absolutely open and the universe will show itself in all of its true glory. God will stand before you and within you.” 3. On anger and emotions…. My sister’s ex-husband wrote me an email as he was going through the divorce proceedings with my sister, and stated our usual concept of anger wonderfully: ‘It’s impossible not to feel angry when you are facing the gale-force winds of your emotions whipping across your body’. Most of us experience most of our emotions like that most of the time. But try this on: Experiencing anger is like sitting in the bathtub frantically thrashing around and throwing handfuls of water into the air while simultaneously wondering why the hell your head and face keep getting wet. You’re in a stupor so deep you cannot even see that you’re the one causing the problem” 4. On the future…. “When you’re so committed to the future, it’s real easy to let your life right now turn to shit”. 5. On morality… “Do what you do as well as you possibly can. That’s Buddhist morality.” 6. On action… “For most of my life I’ve been the darkest, bleakest most misanthropic pessimist anyone could want to meet (or to avoid, for that matter). I was utterly convinced the world was on the fast track to hell. When I first encountered Nishijima’s grinning, sunny optimism I wanted to smack it right off his face. But here’s the thing: You can convince yourself that your pessimistic outlook is “correct” or “realistic” or “justified” – and any newspaper will give you plenty of evidence. You can wallow darkly in your certainty that anyone who sees things in a positive light is an unrealistic empty-headed ninny. Spend your time doing that and you’ll be miserable, which you believe is your right, a personal choice that affects no one but yourself. But it’s not. It’s an inexcusable way to live because when you live that way you won’t do anything about any of what’s wrong in the world because, of course, if you succeeded that would prove you were wrong that nothing could be done.” “Does letting go of your committed pessimism mean you ignore what’s wrong in the world? No. Far from it. Seeing what’s wrong and pointing it out is a big part of how you make things better…If the world is to change in any important way, that change will come from individual human beings who have the courage to discover who they truly are…No Zen master can show you the way. Only you have the power to make this place you’re living in right now a realm so beautiful even God himself couldn’t dream of anything better. And doing this will transform the universe. It’s up to you….Some people take up zazen practice expecting that enlightenment will be the ultimate peak experience, the peak experience to beat all peak experiences. But real enlightenment is the most ordinary of the ordinary. And our ordinary, boring, pointless lives are incredibly, amazingly, astoundingly, relentlessly, mercilessly joyful.” – Quotes Selected by Megan Dettenmaier
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 04:17:48 +0000
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