“Don’t recall. Let go of what has passed. Don’t imagine. Let go of what may come. Don’t think. Let go of what is happening now. Don’t examine. Don’t try to figure anything out. Don’t control. Don’t try to make anything happen. Rest. Relax, right now, and rest.” -Tilopa
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The sudden/gradual, immanence/distinction tensions have gone on for a long long time....explored quite brilliantly by Sam Van Schaik (and others, I'm sure). May be less conflicting if one is able to take the pointers, not as a way to be free 'instantly', but as a way of training
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The problem, seen over and over again, is that most students really, utterly fail at that. There are better ways to get from there to here, IMO, especially for people expressly conditioned to cling to everything. If you can integrate into the culture, say a Zen temple, OTOH...
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The inability to recognize the cultural contingents of practice is a problem that repeats over, over and over again. The failure of yoga in the West is a good example. Buddhism, too.
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Interesting point - please say more.
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I am in the fortunate position of being two links of association away from many of those tasked with this stuff; too far to be entangled, close enough to understand broad strokes. You can't just bring the practice into a foreign culture. It won't "click". Too much baggage. E.g.:
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- Metta, compassion and love-based yogic practice DO NOT WORK for majority of westerners. - Social structure inimical to gurus, ashram, sangha etc. Those that flourish often (really often) are cults. - Scientism vs. mysticism; porting language is hard, stuff lost in translation.
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Well said. Your last bullet point is especially important, perhaps one of the biggest obstacles to Buddhism in the West. It certainly delayed my practice for a while as a skeptic without any understanding of the subtleties and nuances of dharma.
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Mmh. I don't think cloaking it in scientific language is a clear-cut victory, either. A lot of these ideas *are* mystical or existential. Why lie?
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Which is of course why there are practices that help us let go gradually rather than all at once. It's easy to be on the other side of the Gate and say "just look, there's no gate to cross!". But that isn't always (or even usually) effective for most people.
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Pith instructions denuded of context are rarely useful. Indeed, they can lure one into inaction.
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one shortcut that helps me is recognize that truth is already operating despite the layer of display/interpretation. In effect, the 'letting go' is ongoing and always operating. I hear ya tho. Even disturbance is wakefulness.
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