I have volunteered on local boards for 20 years. I'm there out of a willingness to help. The problems towns face are complicated and there's always many sides. Being willing to listen to all parties and try to help the best you can really can make a difference in the built environment and people's lives. It's hard sometimes but I don't think it's pointless.
There is no doubt that political movements can create something beneficial and meaningful. The problem is that it is only temporary and it does not transform the world into something like lasting peace or having all of our needs addressed. We should still do our best, even if we know it will be torn down by the next person who comes along. This is Bodhicitta in action.
I speak from personal experience with serving people on the relative level, serving on boards, being in public service, volunteering for activities that could really make a difference. I saw everything fall apart when I left such service to others. Our involvement provides, at best, only transitory relief.
The main point here, in this article, is that we need to evolve and that this needs to happen with the individual. We need to awaken. Politics will never give us anything other than what has always been. An evolution will give us something much better. This is why I say that politics is an act of futility. If we don't change the individual, we can't hope for anything better than what we've already experienced from timeless beginnings.
how can we do evolve if the only thing we have to loose is our delusion?
the ego mind cant drop the thought of an outward solution ,only being able able to deal with reality in a manner it was thaught.
u.g. krishnamurti is certainly right when he tells us that the means we use are the very trap were in;)
if you realize any solution this will very very hindrance, as it arguably cannot fathom the reality behind that veil of pure essence or dharmakaya....
boddhicitta is the only key,but we have to be very serious in our aspiration,fighting like a lion, to dare to go to this void that is vastly filled with more than we can ever put into conceptual perception.this very space is within everything ,but ungraspably so.within you ,not hidden ,but untouchable and everlasting
all my love,
christof
we may as well reside in joy ad listen to some uplifting music;)
Christof, the answer to that is within your question. Losing delusion requires us to see things as they are. This requires us to evolve, simply because we can't automatically see the delusion. When we utilize the key of Bodhicitta, it opens us up to the illusion we are experiencing. We see the futility of engaging in all the insanity. In this activity of showing great compassion for all, we start to see clearly that the pain and suffering goes on undeterred, unless people work on themselves.
I remember, years ago when I took the bus to work, I gave my gloves to a person who was very cold, stepping onto the bus on a brutal winter morning. I felt great compassion for this person who seemed to be poor and having issues with taking care of himself. He was very happy, and this made me happy.
The next time I saw him, on another cold winter day, he didn't have any gloves. I asked him what had happened to his gloves and he couldn't tell me. Then he started talking about how happy he was that his sister came to visit. The Dharma here was obvious to me. Even though this person received much help, it wasn't really helping. All I could do was my best to help, even though it wasn't enough.
If we evolve, our physical concerns lighten. Our attachment to this physical realm become not so serious. Our compassion grows to the point that it really hurts when we see suffering of any kind.
So, long answer, we evolve when we open our heart and mind to what is, as it is. We grow when our compassion for self and other increases. This process occurs when we are still enveloped in the complications and constraints of samsara. Once we are able to awaken, evolution becomes no more than a memory of how we spent our time bound by the demon of samsara.
Robert,thanks a lot for your well put explanation.
especially your story on the person without gloves,in bitter cold weather, is kind of eyeopening,seeing your compassion to practically help and his reaction about his joy of his sisters visit,the emotionial connection he was in need of,something that often triggers my mind.
i feel a certain twist in me when experiencing and dealing with incongruent behaviours ,my rational mind refuses to be compassionate about demands from others to me,when ,whatever that may be, but what they really want is, their feelings want to be seen and valued and fed .
i remember you rambling about emotions in your book ,the frog, too, a bit surprised ,as ,after all we do act quite in the same way to others too,validating this with this imaginary self to whom that is happening everything;)
the beauty of your work is that you are able to show us the importance to do our own work,practice without a mold ,quite free .letting me discover the reality of this constantly expanding and retracting flow within,finding true rythm,not ours ,but the one of the natural state,which certainly includes this "me".
truly enjoed your comment ,thanks again,
maybe once you can tell us about your experience with awakening in this life compared to awakening at the moment of death?
I have volunteered on local boards for 20 years. I'm there out of a willingness to help. The problems towns face are complicated and there's always many sides. Being willing to listen to all parties and try to help the best you can really can make a difference in the built environment and people's lives. It's hard sometimes but I don't think it's pointless.
There is no doubt that political movements can create something beneficial and meaningful. The problem is that it is only temporary and it does not transform the world into something like lasting peace or having all of our needs addressed. We should still do our best, even if we know it will be torn down by the next person who comes along. This is Bodhicitta in action.
I speak from personal experience with serving people on the relative level, serving on boards, being in public service, volunteering for activities that could really make a difference. I saw everything fall apart when I left such service to others. Our involvement provides, at best, only transitory relief.
The main point here, in this article, is that we need to evolve and that this needs to happen with the individual. We need to awaken. Politics will never give us anything other than what has always been. An evolution will give us something much better. This is why I say that politics is an act of futility. If we don't change the individual, we can't hope for anything better than what we've already experienced from timeless beginnings.
how can we do evolve if the only thing we have to loose is our delusion?
the ego mind cant drop the thought of an outward solution ,only being able able to deal with reality in a manner it was thaught.
u.g. krishnamurti is certainly right when he tells us that the means we use are the very trap were in;)
if you realize any solution this will very very hindrance, as it arguably cannot fathom the reality behind that veil of pure essence or dharmakaya....
boddhicitta is the only key,but we have to be very serious in our aspiration,fighting like a lion, to dare to go to this void that is vastly filled with more than we can ever put into conceptual perception.this very space is within everything ,but ungraspably so.within you ,not hidden ,but untouchable and everlasting
all my love,
christof
we may as well reside in joy ad listen to some uplifting music;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM12Bi_O__U
Christof, the answer to that is within your question. Losing delusion requires us to see things as they are. This requires us to evolve, simply because we can't automatically see the delusion. When we utilize the key of Bodhicitta, it opens us up to the illusion we are experiencing. We see the futility of engaging in all the insanity. In this activity of showing great compassion for all, we start to see clearly that the pain and suffering goes on undeterred, unless people work on themselves.
I remember, years ago when I took the bus to work, I gave my gloves to a person who was very cold, stepping onto the bus on a brutal winter morning. I felt great compassion for this person who seemed to be poor and having issues with taking care of himself. He was very happy, and this made me happy.
The next time I saw him, on another cold winter day, he didn't have any gloves. I asked him what had happened to his gloves and he couldn't tell me. Then he started talking about how happy he was that his sister came to visit. The Dharma here was obvious to me. Even though this person received much help, it wasn't really helping. All I could do was my best to help, even though it wasn't enough.
If we evolve, our physical concerns lighten. Our attachment to this physical realm become not so serious. Our compassion grows to the point that it really hurts when we see suffering of any kind.
So, long answer, we evolve when we open our heart and mind to what is, as it is. We grow when our compassion for self and other increases. This process occurs when we are still enveloped in the complications and constraints of samsara. Once we are able to awaken, evolution becomes no more than a memory of how we spent our time bound by the demon of samsara.
Robert,thanks a lot for your well put explanation.
especially your story on the person without gloves,in bitter cold weather, is kind of eyeopening,seeing your compassion to practically help and his reaction about his joy of his sisters visit,the emotionial connection he was in need of,something that often triggers my mind.
i feel a certain twist in me when experiencing and dealing with incongruent behaviours ,my rational mind refuses to be compassionate about demands from others to me,when ,whatever that may be, but what they really want is, their feelings want to be seen and valued and fed .
i remember you rambling about emotions in your book ,the frog, too, a bit surprised ,as ,after all we do act quite in the same way to others too,validating this with this imaginary self to whom that is happening everything;)
the beauty of your work is that you are able to show us the importance to do our own work,practice without a mold ,quite free .letting me discover the reality of this constantly expanding and retracting flow within,finding true rythm,not ours ,but the one of the natural state,which certainly includes this "me".
truly enjoed your comment ,thanks again,
maybe once you can tell us about your experience with awakening in this life compared to awakening at the moment of death?
christof
I see, thank you!