[Buddha-l] "Spiritual"

[Joy Vriens]

Ron,

>I think  most would agree that crossword puzzles and 
>chess problems are mental  exercises.  Are they also 
>spiritual  exercises? 

>You miss the point. 
>These activities have their dynamics in terms of logic, reason, motive. The   
>point of Rinpoche's definition is that even negative emotions, or klesas, have  
> spiritual meaning and value in that working with them is an element of the   
>spiritual path. "Spirituality" does not refer merely to the pursuit of bliss  
>or  transcendence but also to working with the everyday experience of life and  
>one's  actions in it.  

I agree. Although the series of practices called blo sbyong is often translated as mind training in English, wheras they are in fact no different from the spirtual exercices that Hadot wrote about. The first series of blo sbyong are actuallly practices beyond thought. They are spiritual practices because they work with one's entire being or aspects if that word scares one. 

Joy