Picking and choosing

Picking and choosing

I tend to like "picking and choosing". This in inverted commas as often it is a phrase thrown as an accusation against those who stray happily from a path deemed the way. Or perhaps better, THE way. 

To pick and choose, rather than place oneself within a straight-jacket of a particular path, is seen as indulging the "self" and allowing it free reign, thus not curbing it, not applying discipline, in fact not following a path at all, but meandering uselessly, directionless.

Yes, it has been thrown at me, often in my early days on Buddhist Forums, by ardent advocates of spending hours upon the zafu. I do remember one such critic also waxing lyrically on the merits of the keisaku, the "awakening stick" used by some zen masters when a student slumped or dozed. 

Beware.......

Well, maybe I should have taken such criticism to heart. Perhaps I would now have been enlightened rather than stumbling along, hoping for a helping hand from Amida. Who knows? 

Anyway, be that as it may, one line from a song concerning the American Civil War, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", written by one of Bob Dylan's one time bandmates, Robbie Robertson,  is one I have always loved, and goes:-

You take what you need and you leave the rest.  

Robbie Robertson

Good stuff! Just what the doctor ordered as we say in the UK. Just my cup of tea. Of course, the problem is actually knowing what you need, especially if you tend to drift about, "picking and choosing".

Thinking back, what drew the ire of the orthodox was a tendency I had to quote with admiration various verses from texts drawn from a whole diversity of Faiths. A post on the Forum  testifying to my being inspired by the Buddha saying that he taught "one thing and one thing only, the path to the end of suffering" (and yes, it did inspire me, every time I read the phrase as it appeared in the Theravada Majjhima Nikaya, or in the essays of Nyanaponika Thera) was followed by quoting with equal admiration that the earth brings forth fruits of herself; this last still remaining my all-time favorite Bible verse.

Seeking the end of suffering

Possible that Bible verse, drawn from St Mark, suggests Grace, and those who have taken to heart the Buddha's dictum that "Buddhas  only point the way, each has to walk the path themselves" considered all such thought of Other Power a non starter. At this time I knew nothing of the intricate interplay of self power (Japanese jiriki) and Other Power (tariki) in Pure Land Buddhism, but I did, if I remember rightly, ask just who is actually walking the path, this in the light of the fundamental and central Buddhist doctrine of anatta (not-self) 

If I understand correctly, the Theravada answer to this (if not the answer received on the Forum) would be found in the "two truths" teaching, of conventional and ultimate truth. In fact, this distinction runs through all forms of the Dharma, Mahayana and Theravada, in various permutations and guises. But, picking and choosing, I chose then only what I considered the best, what appealed. Profound intuition or pandering to a lascivious and salivating self!? The definitive answer must remain hidden. 

Two truths - various guises

But moving on, a close companion of "picking and choosing" is the mixing of apples and oranges. Not actually the same, but certainly a stable mate. I think mixing apples and oranges effects the workings of logic, which I am not particularly strong on. From the perspective of Buddhism, the Dharma, I would hazard a guess that such mixing muddies the waters somewhat with respect to the Two Truths. All I can say is that if nirvana and samsara are "one", as claimed, then the two would certainly be muddied, if not muddled. Where are we at any one time? In the Pure Land all there is is the Great Acceptance ONLY and all is left in Amida's hands. 

Acceptance

I was just trying to get back to the actual intent of starting this blog, which was not actually "picking and choosing" at all, or "apples and oranges", but was in fact to present a small selection of quotes from one or two Christian Mystics. Thinking back I got a tiny intimation of maybe some wondering why I would do such a thing, given my love of the Pure Land. I therefore began to waffle, seeking, I suppose, to justify myself. Even though that is not my business at all. 

Waffles

Let it pass, please, and here are a few selections, ones I see as relevant, if relevance is any criteria at all in the context of this blog:-

First from Meister Eckhart, where he speaks of "True Obedience" in his "Talks of Instruction".

.........when we go out of ourselves through obedience and strip ourselves of what is ours, then God must enter into us; for when someone wills nothing for themselves, then God must will on their behalf just as he does for himself.......in true obedience there should be no 'I want this or that to happen' or 'I want this or that thing'.......'give me this particular virtue or way of devotion'.......but rather 'Lord, give me only what you will and do, Lord, only what you will and in the way that you will'.......but just as true obedience should have no 'I want this', neither should it ever hear 'I don't want', for 'I don't want' is pure poison for all true obedience'.

Obedience - but is it true?

Perhaps mixing apples and oranges, I can relate this to the zen dictum of "no preferences" ("if we wish to know the truth") and to the Pure Land verse of leaving the direction of our path, towards heaven or hell, in Amida's hands. In my own world of no calculation, reciting the nembutsu - in effect a simple cry of gratitude - in each and every situation, no matter what, is the way of deep hearing beyond all comprehension; and is therefore much the same. (Eckhart also speaks of "True Poverty" in equally startling language, as well as "True Obedience", but maybe enough for now)

Gratitude

Here is another quote, from St John of the Cross, from "The Dark Night":- 

This guided me 

more surely than the light of noon 

to where he was awaiting me - him I knew so well - there in a place where no one appeared.....

.....I abandoned and forgot myself, 

laying my face on my Beloved; 

all things ceased; I went out of myself, 

leaving my cares

forgotten among the lilies.

Among the lilies

I really think I should leave it there for now. I have things to do and places to go.

Related Quotes:-

In giving us His love God has given us the Holy Spirit so that we can love Him with the love wherewith He loves Himself. 

(Meister Eckhart)

(Dogen's)......approach to awakening as a function of the nature of reality, intimately connected with the dynamic support of the earth, space itself, and a multidimensional view of the movements of time..............contrary to present conventions, Zen Buddhism developed and cannot be fully understood outside of a worldview that sees reality itself as a vital, ephemeral agent of awareness and healing. 

(From "Visions of Awakening, Space and Time", sub-titled "Dogen and the Lotus Sutra" by Taigen Dan Leighton)

There exists only the present instant.....a Now which always and without end is itself new. There is no yesterday nor any tomorrow, but only Now, as it was a thousand years ago and as it will be a thousand years hence 

(Meister Eckhart, again)

The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences........if you wish to see the truth then hold no opinions for or against anything.

(From the "Hsin Hsin Ming" by Seng-T'san)

The Great Way