discourse

Post-modern discourse - utterances need hyperlinks that lead to other utterances that need hyperlinks … and so on - till silence takes over.

Language and Freeedom: Meaning in Zen - Book Review by John Crook

Language and Freeedom: Meaning in Zen - Book Review by John Crook: "

What is the place of Zen in contemporary thought, the relation of Buddhist metaphysics to philosophy and the value of ancient texts to thinking people today? These and related questions form the subject matter of this intelligent, subtle and provoking book. Dale S. Wright, Professor of Religious Studies, Occidental College, Los Angeles, provides a thought provoking read especially for those of us concerned with problems of representing Buddhism, and Zen in particular, within Western culture today."

The Sound Of Stillness

The Sound Of Stillness: "The Sound Of Stillness -
Exploring darkness and light at an eight-day silent retreat"

dharma gravity

Gravity is present for all people in all places - whether or not there is an articulated law. The same is true of the dharma. Thus there might well be ordinary western people who are enlightened in the Buddhist sense although they know nothing about Buddhism.

idleness good

"I want to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organized diminution of work.

First of all: what is work? Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid. The second kind is capable of indefinite extension: there are not only those who give orders, but those who give advice as to what orders should be given. Usually two opposite kinds of advice are given simultaneously by two organized bodies of men; this is called politics. The skill required for this kind of work is not knowledge of the subjects as to which advice is given, but knowledge of the art of persuasive speaking and writing, i.e. of advertising ...The morality of work is the morality of slaves, and the modern world has no need of slavery."

Bertrand Russell (1932) 'In Praise of Idleness' http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html

flow - challenges and skills

in flow

How does it feel to be in flow?

http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html 

1. Completely involved in what we are doing - focused, concentrated
2. A sense of ecstasy - of being outside everyday reality
3. Great inner clarity - knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing
4. Knowing that the activity is doable - that our skills are adequate to the task
5. A sense of serenity - no worries about oneself, and a feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of the ego
6. Timelessness - thoroughly focussed on the present, hours seem to pass by in minutes
7. Intrinsic motivation - whatever produces flow becomes its own reward

inward journey

"The longest journey is the journey inward" Dag Hammarskjold (Swedish diplomat (1905 - 1961)

wise talk

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something" Plato (427-347 BC)

 

On being normal

George Clark, 16 January 2008

Normality is a political idea. It makes it possible to label people as sub-normal (bad), normal (good) or supra-normal (excellent). So how do we recognise a normal person? There are many possible ways but they boil down to the idea that, "me and us are normal, 'they' are not". In what follows we will look briefly at two broad views of 'enlightened' normality and at a possible merging at the level of supra-normals.

Reasonably enlightened normality

In Europe there has been the Age of Reason and the Age of Enlightenment. These created a view of normality that favours rationality and materialism in a clockwork, Newtonian universe. The 'scientific method' rules the modern world.

Sub-normal people are hangovers from pre-modern times. They are traditionalists who are superstitious and believe in magic. Normal people are thoroughly 'modern' and look for evidence to guide their rational, systematic and selfish thought processes. Supra-normal people are the lions of philosophy, science and economics who embrace post-modernism with its deep-rooted, radical doubt and its existential uncertainty - anything goes.

In this view the social paradigm involves dualism and debate. There are winners and losers. Competition. Humanity is seen as having dominion over creation.

Integrally enlightened normality

In the east there have been thoughts of enlightenment and thus of liberation and release for more than 2000 years.

Sub-normal people believe in the abiding reality of self and things. This is the root of their suffering. They are in the majority. Normal people appreciate (a) the impermanence of all created things and (b) the wisdom of renunciation and stillness. This leads to the end of suffering. Supra-normal people are the transcendent sages and gurus who fully embody the highest ideals and act as a role model for others.

In this view the social paradigm involves monism, discussion and silent meditation. We are enmeshed in a web of multiple, complex and intertwining causes and conditions. Viewpoints are held lightly. Partnership. Everybody can win release from suffering by changing how they think.

The merging of the supra-normals

The above sketch is brutally over simple. It serves to polarise world views and to point to the possibility of a merging - at least at the level of the supra-normals. This might lead to a more systematic and compassionate stewardship of ourselves and the planet. Anderson (1996) noted the potential for humanity to wake up - 

"... we have not one Enlightenment project but three: a Western one based on rational thought, an Eastern one based on seeing through the illusion of the Self, and a Postmodern one based on the concept of socially constructed reality. And despite their many differences, they share the common goal of liberation.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau made the famous revolutionary pronouncement that "Men are born free, and everywhere are in chains." A couple of centuries later that still holds truth for us, but now we see that the strongest chains are symbolic ones, mind forged manacles." (p219)

Source: Walter Truett Anderson (ed) (1996) The Fontana Post-Modernism Reader; Fontana; ISBN 0006863701 see http://www.srds.co.uk/begin/third_light.htm