It should be noted that those who are passionate about practice and learning to actually practice correctly are much more likely to make progress than those who are not. Those who are able to channel all their rage, frustration, lust, greed, despair, confusion and anguish into trying to find a better way are the only ones who are likely to have what it takes to finally attain freedom. Those who are actually able to sit with the specific sensations that make up rage, lust, anger, confusion and all the rest with clarity, precision, acceptance of their humanity, and equanimity are even more likely to get enlightened. This paragraph deserves to be read more than once.
-Daniel Ingram
Mastering the Core Teaching of the Buddha
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4 comments:
Great quote. I think it takes a great deal of inner knowledge and experience to determine which passions should be curbed and which should be followed. Buddhist A&E exercises seem to place a lot of value on self-negation, which is of course a very Buddhist path to enlightenment.
I think from what I've seen that within the Johannite Gnostic tradition we might be able to surf a bit with passions and learn to know when to follow the tide.
There is an irresistible quality of a certain type of divine love that is very much connected to the physical, even erotic impulse. As far as I know, this is not something that either Mahayana nor Theravada Buddhism deals with head-on.
Excellent point for a very big discussion that I would like to learn from.
D.
Daniel's book stands apart from most the myriad of other book's on the subject.
He basically pulls out the dogma model behind enlightment and focuses on practice.
The practice he lays out is not self negation as in "self denial, but rather what he calls "noting practice". The insight practitioner notes every sensation to the best of their ability as they arise whether it be sight, sound, feeling, hearing, thought, etc.
What one eventually discovers is that many if not all the more complex emotions such as lust and rage are combinations of others arising.
It is more about gaining insight into these feelings rather then sanitizing the self of them.
He boldly breaks with a lot of Buddhist tradition by claiming that to be enlightened does not mean to be "emotionally sanitized"
He tries to dispel with a lot of myths surrounding enlightment by favoring the "non-duality" model of enlightment. This is my understanding of the model underlying "The Gospel of Thomas".
His book can be found as a pdf file on the internet.
OK "enlightenment" not "enlightment"
So true! Great quote.
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