tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735806083613637800.post7929306262552244026..comments2018-08-13T05:32:38.490-07:00Comments on Reflections on Infinite Space: Verse 1.8: too much doingKen McLeodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15876529036315470763noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735806083613637800.post-31351280693947498812014-09-01T04:08:58.093-07:002014-09-01T04:08:58.093-07:00“But the story says nothing about what the hermit ...“But the story says nothing about what the hermit experienced internally.”<br />Wouldn’t that be a useful story.<br /><br /><br />“The teachings of mind training and other practices show us how to use those feelings and how to use adversity (as well as good fortune) to deepen our relationship with life itself. They don’t tell us not to have those feelings.” <br />I found this a helpful clarification. Its like the fashion for talking about resilience as if it means never getting bent out of shape but really it means getting stretched out of shape then bouncing back into shape. You cant skip the getting stretched part.<br /><br /><br />That way of practice is analogous to sounding out the words when you are learning to read. When you can actually read, you don’t sound out the words. You just read. <br />That’s a useful description of how my practice has changed over the years.<br /><br /><br />“To me, this line means that the conventional distinctions, the usual designations, no longer mean anything.”<br />So is it about having nothing preconceived to be done so you are free to do what there is to be done which will generally be a lot less than when your emotionally invested with right and wrong? You still do things but come the action arises from a very open calm resting place.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00484505174921391015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735806083613637800.post-21713456994766211072014-09-01T04:07:26.723-07:002014-09-01T04:07:26.723-07:00“But the story says nothing about what the hermit ...“But the story says nothing about what the hermit experienced internally.”<br />Wouldn’t that be a useful story.<br /><br /><br />“The teachings of mind training and other practices show us how to use those feelings and how to use adversity (as well as good fortune) to deepen our relationship with life itself. They don’t tell us not to have those feelings.” <br />I found this a helpful clarification. Its like the fashion for talking about resilience as if it means never getting bent out of shape but really it means getting stretched out of shape then bouncing back into shape. You cant skip the getting stretched part.<br /><br /><br />"That way of practice is analogous to sounding out the words when you are learning to read. When you can actually read, you don’t sound out the words. You just read." <br />That’s a useful description of how my practice has changed over the years.<br /><br /><br />“To me, this line means that the conventional distinctions, the usual designations, no longer mean anything.”<br />So is it about having nothing preconceived to be done so you are free to do what there is to be done which will generally be a lot less than when your emotionally invested with right and wrong? You still do things but come the action arises from a very open calm resting place.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00484505174921391015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735806083613637800.post-47163751744784713792014-08-30T20:52:33.275-07:002014-08-30T20:52:33.275-07:00What I most liked about this post was the stories ...What I most liked about this post was the stories of your two colleagues who imagined their practice was lacking because of anxiety and humor. I agree that this way of thinking ‘dehumanizes’ one. We compare ourselves to the ‘enlightenment template’, and always fall short. Then our whole path becomes driven by some sense of ‘lack’, and this just creates more struggle. <br />I’m fortunate to have met a few people like Jigme Lingpa. While there’s no shortcut for the years and years of ‘cutting through the operations of patterns’ (rewiring your nervous system and your brain), just having met these individuals gives me a glimpse beyond the work of ‘applying techniques’. They communicate through the openness of their being, their fierce kindness, and their consistent ability to ‘think outside of all boxes’. Without having met them, I wouldn’t have a clue. Thanks for bringing Jigme Lingpa alive for me. I would love to hear some anecdotal stories about his life. <br />Best wishes<br />Marie<br />Mrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12108365466742911474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735806083613637800.post-10126584251247170152014-08-28T12:00:30.314-07:002014-08-28T12:00:30.314-07:00This verse talks to me about the end game of “free...This verse talks to me about the end game of “freedom” and the particular traps and trappings of intelligence and judgment along the way. Both are very good instructions, in my judgment :), but for me the tilting windmills of my struggles are forgetfulness (falling back to sleep) and doubt.<br /><br />The doubt is mostly fueled when trying to sort out the paradoxes in statements like: “These disciplines, however, are really intended to bring you in touch with your reactive patterns in such a way that you have to cut through their operation again and again, again and again coming into that openness and groundlessness.” Getting tangled up in statements like this makes my head explode – maybe that’s the point – hmmm.Kazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09110068719590553923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735806083613637800.post-80060356038614033692014-08-28T09:51:01.712-07:002014-08-28T09:51:01.712-07:00I had a lot of trouble making sense of the first t...I had a lot of trouble making sense of the first two lines. I had to read it five or six times. Yes, I know this is verse, but still there is something about the cadence that obscures the meaning.<br /><br />Consider leaving out the "Yet" that begins the third line.<br /><br />I’ve been thinking about the purpose of ritual and what Jigme’ Lingpa is trying to do with these verses. He reminds me of Martin Luther, Pope Francis today, and even one of your favorites, Yogi Berra and practice vs theory. The binding or focus that ritual provides deteriorates into intolerable unsatisfying stricture that someone has to point out. Is this something each individual has to discover on her own, like learning how to walk? Do we have to become unbalanced before we can know what balance is? I hope Jigme’ Lingpa is going to provide answers.<br />Pat Stacynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735806083613637800.post-31164272380316373282014-08-28T08:03:58.008-07:002014-08-28T08:03:58.008-07:00The "convention" of actions and their su...The "convention" of actions and their surroundings I see as talking about the following the path and practice through the filter of idea about it. "I'm doing this because I'm Buddhist/muslim/christian". <br />I remember a great relief coming into my own path after stopping being a Buddhist, just walking the path with intention of freedom in the moment.<br />Then, I don't think we need to dismiss the existence of "crazy/non rational wisdom" that can become the space from which a person behaves or acts. <br>There are plenty of situations when there's an immediate reaction (sometimes even appearing strange to oneself or others) to the situation while not being automatic or conceptually understood, and "at the end of the day" they turn out to be a right thing to do. And they are not always necessarily nice or pleasant to any particular party of relations.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12273546801250470148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735806083613637800.post-42355191454659394702014-08-27T14:30:07.299-07:002014-08-27T14:30:07.299-07:00Reading and understanding this verse was difficult...Reading and understanding this verse was difficult, while the commentary is very clear, thank you! I found that reading the verse over several times or more allows some sort of loosening of old connections or my usual understanding of words, and something shifts. <br /><br />The line - "You have to work on your life more like the gardener who carefully waters the flowers than the rain that just falls from the sky" - really gets to the difference between open clarity and conceptual baggage that has to keep repeating itself. <br />Diane de Fordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10561535859980333686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735806083613637800.post-6563860602283068142014-08-26T05:15:16.777-07:002014-08-26T05:15:16.777-07:00JJ has a good point.
Also are you going to mentio...JJ has a good point.<br /><br />Also are you going to mention Jigme Lingpa being an incarnation of King Trisong Detsen? That could really be important especially if Jigme Lingpa truly believed it himself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735806083613637800.post-63101448054936375652014-08-25T20:51:08.754-07:002014-08-25T20:51:08.754-07:00I would like clarification on the term "Behav...I would like clarification on the term "Behavioral Tantra" as opposed to just Tantra.<br />Is Jigme Lingpa just saying that once you are resting in the space like experience with the comings and goings of weather accepted as what is naturally that there is no point in practicing the methods of tantra anymore? Or is he making a specific comment about a way in which people approach tantra that is incorrect?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04600181123118638865noreply@blogger.com