Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra

[Cameron]

[VeeCee]

It has been interesting getting feedback from people here on apparently unique or different paths. Recently there has been discussion on what path you are on?, what is the path?

 

My own. I've picked up lots of stuff from different sources. What works for me I keep. What doesn't I get rid of. I think each person's path is unique.

 

V.

[forestofsouls]

All those things you listed are ultimtalely empty according to the Heart Sutra. I've been taught that the Heart Sutra is a Mahayana response to a perception (wrong, in my view) that Theravedan Buddhism breaks everything down into basic parts. There is no "person", there are the five skhandas. There is no matter, there are only the elements. The Heart Sutra comes along and says these, too, are empty-- elements and skhandas break down into emptiness. Therefore, there is utlimtately nowhere to stand, nowhere to go. With nothing to attain, the Bodhisattva depends only on this wisdom.

 

In the end, even the immortals die.

[rene]

I have no fixed path, nor seek one, but anytime I want I can look back and see where I've been.

 

It's pleasurable to learn about others' ways, and hear such a variety of words used in the attempts to describe this shared sourc.

[Mal]

[Buddy]

It's not mythical. There are whole roads. Just choose yours. My experience is that only the Buddhists, Vedantists (and even some theist traditions in the Indian systems) have a real path to totality. YMMV

[forestofsouls]

It's not mythical. There are whole roads. Just choose yours. My experience is that only the Buddhists, Vedantists (and even some theist traditions in the Indian systems) have a real path to totality. YMMV

 

I think this is hard for the modern person to do. In this age of so much information and so many options, its far easier to pick and choose bits according to one's personal preference rather than strike out on single road and see where it goes. Mindfulness meditation used to be taught after years of purifying practices. Now anyone off the street can go a center and learn it.

 

Of course, one must decide if one is in it for spiritual entertainment or spiritual growth.

[steve]

For me, the question that arises is who is this person supposedly following a path?

Cameron,

In my current view, yours is the only important question. I believe that all paths to "enlightenment" ulitmately lead to this question. It is the central quetion of Advaita, Zen/Ch'an, and others. Read Sri Ramana Maharshi or Nisargadatta Maharaj - they are completely about using this question to achieve awakening.

 

I just posted a blab about J Krishanmurti on the "Growth and Development" thread - his work is also all about this question of who is there... but he gets into it with a little different slant that appeals more to me.

 

This is why no path leads to the truth. Or one could say all paths lead to the truth provided they lead to that question. This is also why all methods and all gurus ultimately have to be dropped. Sure, they are a natural part of the progression because anyone interested in looking for answers has to start somewhere. BUT...

 

As long as you are on a path or following a guru, you continue to reinforce the illusion that there is someone there that is following. The path goes on and on. It gets more and more complex. You get little rewards that keep you going. In the long run, however, one must come to this question - who is it that is doing this meditation? who is it that is walking this path? Ultimately - it is no one. There is no one there. Keep looking - try to pin it down. You can't. It's like peeling an onion, layer after layer after layer, until nothing is left. The thing is, you have to try really, really hard and for a long period of time before you are utterly convinced of the reality of this statement. Otherwise it just sounds like bullshit and has no meaning or it sounds true but doesn't really affect you at a deep enough level. That is what koans are all about in Zen. It's what Zhuangzi talks about. It's what Advaita is about.

 

When you feel it, you'll never be the same. Warning - we are really attached to our paths, gurus, and practices. Imagine waking up one day and knowing (not believing, knowing in your very core) that it's all 100% bullshit. Everything. Every practice, religion, belief system. It's all a creation of the mind. It's all a game, albeit very convincing. In fact, it's the creation of everyone's minds going back millenia. It's a scary thought. It's depressing. It's difficult to face. The "I" thought that watches all the others doesn't want to let go. It's been conditioned into us since birth and does a very good job at keep us alive and successful. Nevertheless, that is the fundamental hurdle. And it's something that requires constant vigilance for a long period of time - maybe for life. I don't know.

 

That's my path right now... To be honest, everything I just said might be 100% bullshit. I really don't know anything. I have no credentials or proof. But I can say that it feels 100% right to me.

 

So then the question comes up, why do anything? Why meditate? Why practice taiji and so on? Because it's fun, it feels good, and I like it, whoever I am....