The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol. 9 Chapter 3: Buddhas Only Point the Way By awareness Buddha does not mean presence of mind. Many people misunderstand. Whenever Buddha uses the words awake, awareness, people think he is talking about presence of mind. Presence of mind is presence of mind; awareness has nothing to do with the mind. Awareness is something beyond the mind. Presence of mind is very ordinary. In any danger it comes to you. If somebody is going to shoot you, you will have presence of mind in that moment. If a tiger suddenly jumps in front of you, you will have presence of mind; you will do something which you have never done before. Frank and Gene were tossing down a few brews at the neighborhood pub. “Boy, did I have a close call with Angie last night,” said Frank. “What happened?” asked Gene. “Well, I got home real late, so I took off my shoes, climbed the stairs, opened the door of the bedroom, tiptoed in, and closed the door without making any noise. Just as I am about to get into bed, the wife wakes up and says, ‘Is that you, Toto?’” “What did you do?” “For once in my life I really used my head,” said Frank. “I licked her hand.” This is presence of mind. She is thinking he is the dog, Toto. But presence of mind is not awareness; it is a small phenomenon, a tiny thing. Mind can do it. Awareness is something beyond the mind. You have to watch the mind, you have to watch the presence of mind as much as absence of mind. You have to watch both, you have to go beyond both. It comes, it certainly comes, and when it comes it takes all that is your misery, your ego, your insensitivity, your cruelty. It takes all mud from you…and out of that mud arises the lotus, the one-thousand-petaled lotus of samadhi in you. youtube/watch?v=iqOwPteS_Xg&list=PLAXFY19cL538uHzW-weSnpvtk5EiuWNsl
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 06:17:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015