negative capability
My friend Alice Howell says:
Edinger once said to me, "When you speak, if one single person 'hears' you, you have not spoken in vain". And my Teacher said, "You have no way of knowing how many on the other side crowd around to share." I do my damndest... Think more of contributing than the feedback - that's what it's really about.'
I think these are the only reasons I left my blog up... or that I do anything at all, actually. Because it needs to be done - needs to be said... Because I ultimately believe that it will help... Somewhere.
I remember, some forty-odd years ago, once formulating the wish that I would one day be so enlightened that - without anyone ever necessarily connecting the fact back to whoever I was at that time - all problems throughout the universe would simply be solved without further ado...
Folk would find peace and love, patience and kindliness in their hearts, problems would simply dissolve and turn into opportunities, conflict would be recognised as a useless waste of energy and simply dropped to be replaced with open-heartedness and understanding...
I was probably (VERY probably!) stoned at the time...
... However - as things developed, my prayer matured somewhat and became: Whether they regard me with like or dislike, respect or contempt, as a model or even as a cautionary tale, may just that become one of the causes leading to the certain enlightenement of all sentient beings who come into contact with me.
Doesn't mean to say I particularly LIKE being regarded as a naive fool, sixties retard or short-sighted old fart and wouldn't far rather be taken for a sage, but it doesn't matter WHAT people think of you, actually, as long as that's useful to them - *ultimately* useful to them.
Otherwise we're all just wasting our time, running around inside the circles of the five poisons (bewilderment, craving, rejection, pride and jealousy) with no end in sight.
Thank you, Alice, for reminding me of this.
There are some extraordinary Buddhist books on this, but they all take their root in Shantideva's "Entering the Path of Enlightenement' to which HH Dalai Lama has taught a very accessible commentary now published as "A Flash of Lightning in the Night".
As regards the first:
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-1590300572-0
Publisher Comments:
One of the great classics of Mahayana Buddhism, The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara) is a guide to cultivating the mind of enlightenment, and to generating the qualities of love, compassion, generosity, and patience. Presented in the form of a personal
meditation in verse, it outlines the path of the bodhisattvas–those beings who renounce the peace of an individual salvation and vow to work for the deliverance of all beings, and to attain enlightenment for their sake. The text is beloved by Buddhists of all traditions. Originally written in India in Sanskrit, the text first appeared in Tibetan translation in the eighth century. The fact that it has been expounded, studied, and practiced in Tibet in an unbroken tradition
lends the Tibetan version of the Bodhicharyavatara a particular authority. The present version has therefore been translated from the Tibetan, following a commentary by the Nyingma master Kunzang Pelden, renowned for its thoroughness, clarity, and accessibility.
Synopsis:
The Bodhicharyavatara (literally, "An Entry into the Activities of Enlightenment") is one of the masterworks of Buddhist thought. Written in eighth-century India, it outlines the path of the bodhisattvas, those spiritual aspirants who vow to cultivate wisdom and forgo complete enlightenment in order to help others. This work quickly became a major text of Tibetan Buddhism and is offered here in a highly accessible and poetic translation from the Tibetan.
Synopsis:
The Bodhicharyavatara (literally, "An entry into the activities of enlightenment"), is one of the masterworks of Buddhist thought.
Written in 8th-century India, it outlines the path of the bodhisattvas, those spiritual aspirants who vow to cultivate wisdom and forgo complete enlightenment.
And, for the second:
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=18-0877739714-3
Publisher Comments:
Compassion is the guiding principle of the bodhisattvas, those who vow to attain enlightenment in order to liberate all sentient beings from the suffering and confusion of imperfect existence. To this end, they must renounce all self-centered goals and consider only the well-being of others. The bodhisattvas' enemies are the ego, passion, and hatred; their weapons are generosity, patience, perseverance, and wisdom. In Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama is considered to be a living embodiment of this spiritual ideal. His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai
Lama presents here a detailed manual of practical philosophy, based on The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara) , a well-known text of Mahayana Buddhism written by Shantideva. The Dalai Lama explains and amplifies the text, alluding throughout to the experience of daily life and showing how anyone can develop bodhichitta, the wish for perfect enlightenment for the sake of others. This book will surely become a standard manual for all those who wish to make the bodhisattva ideal a living experience.
Synopsis:
Describes the path to enlightenment as followed by the Bodhisattva.
Description:
Includes bibliographical references (p. [137]) and index.
I was cook while HH gave this - or a similar - explanation of the first eight chapters to a vast crowd in the Dordogne about 15 years ago. The ninth chapter - which he taught a few years later and which deals exclusively with emptiness and how come to at least an intellectual understanding of it - has a book all to itself which i can't find on either the Powell's or Amazon list
- Hang on while I check Snow Lion... Yup! Here it is...
http://www.snowlionpub.com/search.php
How do we generate wisdom within? This exploration, focused around an explication of the 9th chapter of Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life leads the reader through the stages of insight up to the highest view of emptiness. Based on teachings given in France in 1993--this book completes the commentary begun in A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of the Night.. Thupten Jinpa is the Dalai Lama's principal English translator, and has edited many books.
Sorry to go on a bit, but I really think this particular "mind-change" is at the very root of all and everything.
Edinger once said to me, "When you speak, if one single person 'hears' you, you have not spoken in vain". And my Teacher said, "You have no way of knowing how many on the other side crowd around to share." I do my damndest... Think more of contributing than the feedback - that's what it's really about.'
I think these are the only reasons I left my blog up... or that I do anything at all, actually. Because it needs to be done - needs to be said... Because I ultimately believe that it will help... Somewhere.
I remember, some forty-odd years ago, once formulating the wish that I would one day be so enlightened that - without anyone ever necessarily connecting the fact back to whoever I was at that time - all problems throughout the universe would simply be solved without further ado...
Folk would find peace and love, patience and kindliness in their hearts, problems would simply dissolve and turn into opportunities, conflict would be recognised as a useless waste of energy and simply dropped to be replaced with open-heartedness and understanding...
I was probably (VERY probably!) stoned at the time...
... However - as things developed, my prayer matured somewhat and became: Whether they regard me with like or dislike, respect or contempt, as a model or even as a cautionary tale, may just that become one of the causes leading to the certain enlightenement of all sentient beings who come into contact with me.
Doesn't mean to say I particularly LIKE being regarded as a naive fool, sixties retard or short-sighted old fart and wouldn't far rather be taken for a sage, but it doesn't matter WHAT people think of you, actually, as long as that's useful to them - *ultimately* useful to them.
Otherwise we're all just wasting our time, running around inside the circles of the five poisons (bewilderment, craving, rejection, pride and jealousy) with no end in sight.
Thank you, Alice, for reminding me of this.
There are some extraordinary Buddhist books on this, but they all take their root in Shantideva's "Entering the Path of Enlightenement' to which HH Dalai Lama has taught a very accessible commentary now published as "A Flash of Lightning in the Night".
As regards the first:
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin
Publisher Comments:
One of the great classics of Mahayana Buddhism, The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara) is a guide to cultivating the mind of enlightenment, and to generating the qualities of love, compassion, generosity, and patience. Presented in the form of a personal
meditation in verse, it outlines the path of the bodhisattvas–those beings who renounce the peace of an individual salvation and vow to work for the deliverance of all beings, and to attain enlightenment for their sake. The text is beloved by Buddhists of all traditions. Originally written in India in Sanskrit, the text first appeared in Tibetan translation in the eighth century. The fact that it has been expounded, studied, and practiced in Tibet in an unbroken tradition
lends the Tibetan version of the Bodhicharyavatara a particular authority. The present version has therefore been translated from the Tibetan, following a commentary by the Nyingma master Kunzang Pelden, renowned for its thoroughness, clarity, and accessibility.
Synopsis:
The Bodhicharyavatara (literally, "An Entry into the Activities of Enlightenment") is one of the masterworks of Buddhist thought. Written in eighth-century India, it outlines the path of the bodhisattvas, those spiritual aspirants who vow to cultivate wisdom and forgo complete enlightenment in order to help others. This work quickly became a major text of Tibetan Buddhism and is offered here in a highly accessible and poetic translation from the Tibetan.
Synopsis:
The Bodhicharyavatara (literally, "An entry into the activities of enlightenment"), is one of the masterworks of Buddhist thought.
Written in 8th-century India, it outlines the path of the bodhisattvas, those spiritual aspirants who vow to cultivate wisdom and forgo complete enlightenment.
And, for the second:
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin
Publisher Comments:
Compassion is the guiding principle of the bodhisattvas, those who vow to attain enlightenment in order to liberate all sentient beings from the suffering and confusion of imperfect existence. To this end, they must renounce all self-centered goals and consider only the well-being of others. The bodhisattvas' enemies are the ego, passion, and hatred; their weapons are generosity, patience, perseverance, and wisdom. In Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama is considered to be a living embodiment of this spiritual ideal. His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai
Lama presents here a detailed manual of practical philosophy, based on The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara) , a well-known text of Mahayana Buddhism written by Shantideva. The Dalai Lama explains and amplifies the text, alluding throughout to the experience of daily life and showing how anyone can develop bodhichitta, the wish for perfect enlightenment for the sake of others. This book will surely become a standard manual for all those who wish to make the bodhisattva ideal a living experience.
Synopsis:
Describes the path to enlightenment as followed by the Bodhisattva.
Description:
Includes bibliographical references (p. [137]) and index.
I was cook while HH gave this - or a similar - explanation of the first eight chapters to a vast crowd in the Dordogne about 15 years ago. The ninth chapter - which he taught a few years later and which deals exclusively with emptiness and how come to at least an intellectual understanding of it - has a book all to itself which i can't find on either the Powell's or Amazon list
- Hang on while I check Snow Lion... Yup! Here it is...
http://www.snowlionpub.com
How do we generate wisdom within? This exploration, focused around an explication of the 9th chapter of Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life leads the reader through the stages of insight up to the highest view of emptiness. Based on teachings given in France in 1993--this book completes the commentary begun in A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of the Night.. Thupten Jinpa is the Dalai Lama's principal English translator, and has edited many books.
Sorry to go on a bit, but I really think this particular "mind-change" is at the very root of all and everything.
posted by cloudhand at 1:13 AM
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