Teachers | Buddhas | Enlightenment . . . and all that Jazz

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Rio

“If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him”

What I understand this quote to mean (please correct me if I am wrong) is that a Teacher can only show the way; the pupil most do the work. What the Buddha “saw” is what He saw; I will “see” it only with practice. A Buddha (Teacher) does not wants us to follow him blindly but to be Buddhas ourselves. Or to paraphrase H Gunaratana, your own practice (stillness) will get you to see, your own experience (seeing) is all that counts. Actually we are all Buddhas (enlightened) ourselves; we are never apart from the Source. It is the ego who pulls the wool over our eyes with explanations and dissertations and makes us act like nincompoops. Random thought is a trap that puts us to sleep; we just need to wake up.

Ultimately, “It” is within ourselves and all around us, right here, right now. All we need to do is “just see it”. Simple!


Advertisement

Filed under: Dance and Song | Tagged: , , | Comments Off on Teachers | Buddhas | Enlightenment . . . and all that Jazz

That it will never come again | Emily Dickinson

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Rio

I was working today feeling tired and numb (Friday), and decided to stroll outside for a break. I found balm in the weather: a clear blue sky, buildings bathed in sunshine, shady trees and a cool breeze. I just stood there for a while, enjoying the moment.

An attractive lady was approaching  and I said hello. She answered and asked me how I was doing. Her smile was as bright as the sunshine, so I said, “Much better now that you are here”.  She thanked me and I mentioned the weather. She agreed as she sauntered away.

About half an hour later I came back out and there was a change. Same weather but not quite the same feeling —  due to the position of the sun perhaps. That moment will never come again, I thought. And I remembered Emily Dickinson’s poem:

That it will never come again

Is what makes life so sweet.

Believing what we don’t believe

Does not exhilarate.

That if it be, it be at best

An ablative estate —

This instigates an appetite

Precisely opposite.

Poets have a way of “seeing” life as it is. Don’t you think?

Emily Dickinson

Filed under: The Sages | Tagged: , , | 10 Comments »

%d bloggers like this: