A Spirit of Reverence Shared by Lama Surya Das with complete credit to John Blofeld

1. A Spirit of Reverence Shared by Lama Surya Das with complete credit to John Blofeld A zen student articulates the actual dissimilarities between the conceptual and ritual components of practice. This content was basically brought to our notice by Lama Surya Das who is an American lama in the Tibetan Buddhist custom. He is a poet, chantmaster, religious activist and author of many well-liked works on Buddhism; a meditation tutor and spokesperson for Buddhism in the west. Lama Surya Das keeps us current regarding the numerous aspects of buddhism and meditation often with his own discourse and sometimes via articles in addition to content that sheds light on buddhism. This particular piece on Buddhism arises from John Blofeld a scholar, writer, as well as translator of Asian philosophy and religion, specially Buddhism and also Taoism. Continue reading to have more information on Buddhism and the differences relating to the conceptual and ritual aspects of practice.

2. Given that Buddhism came to the West, inevitably some individuals have felt, “Zazen is nice, love is good, self-discipline is great, but why all this bowing as well as incense? To whom does one provide incense in addition to flowers?” For this many of the Buddhists of the past and all Asian ?Buddhists these days will answer with 1 voice: “Dear friends, a spirit of reverence is essential to successful practice. Without them, enlightenment can not be obtained!” Prostrations along with offerings are generally admittedly merely forms-just an individual manner of revealing precisely what cats express by rubbing themselves against a cherished person’s legs. If it had been natural for humans to stand on their own heads as well as stick out their rumps to express respect, then Buddhists would likely stand on their own heads or stick out their rumps as a matter of course. Types do not matter on their own, however the attitude of mind manifested by prostrations and so forth is of fantastic importance to followers of the Way. My Tibetan lama advised me at a very early stage of my training: “Ignorant people undertake the perspective of subject to king before a Buddha statue. Higher-level practice is performed fully inside the thought process.

3. Nevertheless even if you attain the highest possible level-hard certainly to achieve in one lifetime-you should every day alternate formless, wordless, above-conceptual exercise with bowing down and making offerings. Under no circumstances fail in that.” My Chinese Chan (Zen) teacher told me: “In between your rounds of meditation, exercise bowing, supplying incense, along with making circumambulations. If you have no spirit of reverence, virtually no sense of amazement for all that lies beyond the constraints of that miserably circumscribed illusion you suppose to be your ‘me,’ you will make hardly any improvement. Why? Simply because when your practice increases, you'll reflect: ‘I did far better inside my meditation just now’ and by so thinking fall back to the lowest level of ignorance on account of the particular consequent inflation of one's devilish ‘I’!” Those Zen monks who said, “Meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha” or encouraged using Buddha figures as firewood and so forth had been talking not to Americans or even to new Buddhists but to Chinese or perhaps Japanese Zen followers that could possibly be counted upon to know the meaning of such recommendations, which actually amounted to this:

4. “Never for 1 second guess that veneration of sutras or images is of much use in itself, thus don’t let it switch the rest of your current practice, as uninformed people usually do.” I doubt if it actually entered those monks’ minds that one day there would be individuals in the world who'd consider these kinds of powerful (in addition to hilarious) injunctions literally! If it is incorrect to have and also to symbolize behaviour of reverence, awe, and gratitude by prostrations and also offerings, then all Buddhists happen to be wrong for the reason that dharma was basically preached in this existing kalpa 2,500 and even more years ago. Could it be possible that those 100s of millions of people at all levels of dedication to the particular practice we so tremendously value included not one man or woman of accurate understanding till Buddhism reached America? Article source - https://lamasuryadasmarried.wordpress.com/2016/04/28/a-spirit-of-reverence-provided-by-lama-surya-das-with-entire-credit-to-john-blofeld/