[Buddha-l] Re: Greetings from Oviedo

[Chan Fu]

On 10/2/05, Joy Vriens <joy.vriens at nerim.net> wrote:
> Chan Fu wrote:
>
> > What I've seen is all the mind-noise obscuring clarity,
> > but that doesn't say much, does it? Perhaps "spiritual
> > things" can be understood in the psychology of self -
> > of being human with this marvelous mind/brain gadget.
> > Personally, there is so much to be amazed at that I can't
> > help but be amazed. Is that spirituality? I don't know.
>
> Sorry for the two issues per sentence, my mind goes often faster than my
> writing. Being a bit of an idealist I guess spirituality is anything
> left when the homo economicus, the calculating human, is removed. When I
> say I find the world is disenchanted and that it needs enchantment, I am
> probably talking about myself and you are right to point out that
> enchantment is an individual matter too. But it does help when one feels
> more stimulated by one's environment. Yes, your continuous amazement
> probably is a sign of enchantment or spirituality.

No matter, my wife's goes faster than her lips.
She's still enchanting, though...

One *is* one's environment, IMO. You really can't take
(or universalize) yourself out of it. Buddha-wise, you can
subtract everything but 'just being' and that's very relaxing
and all, but it's just another mind trick - it's only another
way of fooling yourself.

I tiptoed around the old folk's advice about letting
go of 'emptiness' for a long time before it came on like
the very first joke.

> > Are these capabilities of mind spiritual? Perhaps they are.
> > In any case, for me, this moment of being is enough to be joyful about.
> > Is that spiritual? I don't know. I don't know if not being able to
> > fit all this beauty into some intellectual construct is spiritual.
>
> I personally manage to find beauty and fullfillment in some intellectual
> constructs too and find it hard to get by without them. But there is
> more peace (dare I say opiate?)  if one doesn't indulge in them.

Perhaps one's free to indulge. It's like going swimming.
If you make the mistake of wishing to be a fish, you may
wind up hooked.

> > All I know is that it's beautiful, and that includes all our knowledge,
> > perceptions, thoughts and actions, as part of it.
> > So, maybe, my choices are the spiritual part of it?
>
> There are times, like the present time, that my "worldy" activity is
> quite overwhelming. I am closely involved in the Justice system in this
> country (France) and find that it is not contributing to build a better
> society, on the contrary I often find it very destructive and
> disruptive. And through my wife I am pretty directly confrontated with
> the failures of the education system. These institutions are two
> essential pillars of society and if their principles are flawed the
> society it supports doesn't function properly either. They both are
> punitive systems, that only judge on performances in a negative way. The
> objective of education here is to prepare to enter one of the elite
> schools, in this following the ambitions of most parents. This means the
> school career of most students, that gradually drop out of the race,
> becomes a series of failures. Right from Kinder garden schools (4
> years), you get rapports about how the child is doing, compared to
> general statistics and in view of the highest end goal. I could give
> other exemples but I will try and limit the issues. :-) This has always
> been like this, like you pointed out, and probably even worse, but with
> the lack of another, more spiritual, dimension, in which one can find
> development it becomes more claustrophobic.

Urk! Yes. I've been following the current politics, legal battles, and
the "(un)Intelligent Design" religious snake-fest just north of here
and wondering if my grandchildren will get a fair (unbiased) chance at life.
Maybe the development that you speak of is only the opportunity
to use our minds and appreciate the beauty of being. Maybe
"spiritual" refers just to our beautiful (and lately evolved/discovered)
minds. But you're in a better cultural ecology for that. Candles
are flickering here, for lack of air.

But don't dismay. The pendulum has swung before. We just weren't
riding on it at the time.

~2500 years ago seems to have marked a point in this evolution
of reflection where it was rediscovered that thought (the
ability to think as we do) could cause a great deal of suffering
(mental pain). We're still learning, but our "spirituality" -  our
creativity and capacity of mind - is surely evolving in a beautiful way.

So, as the old mind-numbing, regressive, buddhism dies off and
is replaced by just learning how to be what we are, perhaps
we'll get lucky and we'll create even more beautiful things rather
than going back to square one. We may even learn how to use
this big wad of bubblegum in our heads before we screw it all up.

"We are as gods, and may as well get used to it."
- Heinlein

> > As for friendship, I've found that I must be very careful about
> > claiming that. But that wariness doesn't discourage hope.
> > I'm very happy to see you again, though.
>
> What do they say? The best way to have a friendship is to be a friend or
> somesuch.
>
> With friendship,
>
> Joy

Always.

--  Brother Cattle Prod of Love and Mercy