8. BrM. Nothing this time.
7. BrM. Nothing there this time
6. BrM. Will my visual skills help me find what I am still missing or is it abstract or is it a metaphor? Is something blocking my vision? Is that what I need to subtract?
6. Focusing. Summation: I AM part of a larger entity, and I did NOT see that clearly. That is a partial answer but I have been told there is more. Also I do know that I don’t completely understand what it is I should be subtracting.
5. Focusing. Reading PaB materials now
4. BrM. What am I not seeing? What do I need to subtract?
[More time off from the blog here working on the question elsewhere]
3. BrM. Moving on now…. What do I still not see?”
[I have learned that don't have this quite right. I took how the understanding of the larger entity applies very narrowly to anger and compassion and started to apply that more broadly. Using it to deal with anger, it becomes a helpful tool. As such I must learn when to apply it in real life. My mistake appears to be that I applied this in a larger sense, moving into a new sense of reality. Also I have never fully understood the concept of subtraction and so I forget to apply that as well. The purpose and applications of subtraction are another thing I do NOT see.]
3. The bell sounds as I end the last sentence of 2. Focus. On one level I am at peace and on another level a bit disturbed.
2. Focusing. Why am I not exhilarated this time? First I know that I knew the answer already. More importantly, this knowledge seems to carry awesome responsibilities with it. How can one ever begin to LIVE compassion for all living beings? It is an awesome responsibility. Somehow dealing with sin is easier; just confess and ask God for forgiveness and then move on. This knowledge then brings me back to my original starting point How does one live Buddhism, stay on the “path”? Is that my next question I wonder. Ah, is there something else I do not see? I have learned to see that I am part of a larger entity. Is it the connection between compassion and the larger entity that I do no see. Or it just that I need to fully accept that I need to live more compassionately to all living beings. Or it simply, what do I do about it? TGhe questions keep getting harder.
1. BrM. Just settling down now after writing
* * * * *
In yesterday’s abbreviated post. I wrote of some things I had learned about anger in my two weeks in PaB. Last night at the Saturday 7 pm session, Stim and Bertram recounted the story of a monk who was being tortured [In Bertram's words "this was in Tibet, and in prison there, the guards did unspeakable things to him... a cattle prod in his mouth--knocking out all of his teeth... he did not feel anger but compassion. his compassion grew deeper with each torture"]. As I understand it this morning, Stim and Bertram’s were saying that using compassion in a larger sense, understanding the greater reality, helps us to transcend our anger. Those who are causing the anger are ignorant of the larger perspective. We can be compassionate about their ignorance. This brings of concept of anger and compassion to a whole new level of thinking.
It seems to me this morning (note the qualitification recognizing how rapidly I changing my views), that this is the spiritual side of Buddhism and not all that different from Chistrian love, and even a belief in God, which allows people to transcend suffering for something larger than themselves. This Buddhist concept also requires a certain leap of faith that there is a larger reality than oneself. For some people, this larger sense might just be family. It might be a village, or a company, or a political entity. It can be a country. It can be a religion. Or it can be the entire world. And I think I understand the Buddhist concept to be even more inclusive. There is Bodhisattva compassion–dedicating one’s whole life to alleviating suffering for all living beings.
The past few days I have been working on the question “What am I NOT seeing?” I had been skirting close to the question. One answer is that I am part of a larger entity.
