Mi'sen

Observation over 35+ years of observing the Buddhist world is that men are more likely to be taken in by phony promises of purification than women. What can we learn from this? Genuinely curious.

Kenneth, could you expand on what a phony promise of purification is? I could hazard a guess, but I would appreciate clarification, if you'd be willing.

We would banish our bad and live in our good, and that, we reason, is how we'll get what we want. It's natural and normal to hope so, and I feel it too. But it doesn't happen. We are, each of us, the full package. To awaken is touch the whole of us in a moment.

Thanks, that's clear distinction. Something like: the false hope of shining so much light out of our ass that we no longer have a shadow....but due to in-game physics, the brighter the light the more pronounced the shadow - cool.

Do you see any place for any version of 'purification', eg: where it isn't actually about banishing the bad, but seeing that it is already integral to the person - something like Shinzen's model of experiencing whatever is in experience with equanimity & non-distraction?