[Buddha-l] Re: On Dylan and Poetry

[Benito Carral]

On Thursday, September 29, 2005, Franz Metcalf wrote:

> Some  call  fleeting  trans-personal  Zen experiences
> distractions because they don't seem to be accretive.
> [...]  Both  these possible forms of distraction fail
> to  lead  beyond  themselves  toward  kilesa-nirodha.
> Others, including myself, argue that such experiences
> *are themselves* the end of the path.

   I  think that most of people in our globalized world
tends to seek ephemeral distractions as the impermanent
end  of  the  path,  so I suppose that it all depens on
what  path  we  talk  about.  It  is  clear  to me that
distraction  was  not what the old Indian Buddha had in
mind.  However  I  must to recognize that, while one is
distracted  listening  music  or reading poetry, one is
not  usually causing direct harm to others (although we
should  have in mind what entertainment corporations do
with  the economic resources we provide to them), which
is already something.

   I  think  that distration as a final aspiration is a
quite  postmodern  thing,  something  with  which Woody
Allen  would agree. In fact, he has reportedly said, "I
feel  that it's impossible really to be happy, and that
the  best  you  can  hope  for  is  to  be  distracted"
(interviewed by Geoff Andrew)(1).

   Best wishes,

   Beni

(1) It can be read on <http://www.woodyallen.com/>.