tariki

Anyway, a further quote from Thomas Cleary's commentary on the current chapter, said in relation to the final few verses...... When the inner qualities developed in the course of the Lesser Journey develop to the point where they are inwardly registered by others, wherever they are to be found, then the Lesser Journey has subtly merged into the Greater Journey, in the most harmonious possible way. As has been said elsewhere....."by their fruits shall you know them."

Well, the Dhammapada was written from the perspective of what Cleary calls the "Lesser Journey", which relates to the purification of the "self", to "strength and sobriety of character". Speaking of the "greater journey" and the final destination, Cleary says that the soundness of the spiritual state of the traveller depend on the insight, serenity and forbearance acquired in the course of the lesser journey. I'm not really one for "stages" myself, or the constant introspection that it would seem to require. For me, it is more a world of trust and faith and mercy, towards reality-as-is and ourselves...............and others. "Lesser" and "greater" can take care of themselves, as well as any "cravings" I may or may not have. Of relevance though - or at least, so it seems to me - are the words the Ch'an master Pai-chang........ The words of the teachings all have three successive steps: the elementary, the intermediate, and the final good. At first, it is just necessary to teach people to develop a good mind. In the intermediate stage, they break through the good mind. The last stage is finally called really good. This is what is meant by the sayings, "An enlightening being is not an enlightening being, but is called an enlightening being; the truth is not truth, yet is not other than truth." Everything is like this. If, however, you teach only one stage, you will cause people to go to hell. If all three stages are taught at once, they'll go to hell on their own. This is not the work of a real teacher.

Cleary:- This current chapter contrasts the destructive effects of craving, infatuation, and rumination over things, contrasting their undesirable effects with the freedom that comes from insight, dispassion, and inner completeness. Regarding..... Everywhere these currents flow, and the creeper (of craving) sprouts and grows. Seeing that the creeper has sprung up, cut off its root with wisdom. The creeper, as Cleary says, is insidious suggestion, rooted in ignorance and craving, developing into bondage, aggression, and folly. "To sever it the moment it sprouts is what the Tao Te Ching refers to as doing what is difficult when it is still easy. This is the purpose of vigilance, so highly recommended by Buddha." There is more from Cleary, but others may have something to say?

Craving The craving of one given to heedless living grows like a creeper. Like the monkey seeking fruits in the forest, he leaps from life to life (tasting the fruit of his kamma). Whoever is overcome by this wretched and sticky craving, his sorrows grow like grass after the rains. But whoever overcomes this wretched craving, so difficult to overcome, from him sorrows fall away like water from a lotus leaf. This I say to you: Good luck to all assembled here! Dig up the root of craving, like one in search of the fragrant root of the birana grass. Let not Mara crush you again and again, as a flood crushes a reed. Just as a tree, though cut down, sprouts up again if its roots remain uncut and firm, even so, until the craving that lies dormant is rooted out, suffering springs up again and again. The misguided man in whom the thirty-six currents of craving strongly rush toward pleasurable objects, is swept away by the flood of his passionate thoughts. Everywhere these currents flow, and the creeper (of craving) sprouts and grows. Seeing that the creeper has sprung up, cut off its root with wisdom. Flowing in (from all objects) and watered by craving, feelings of pleasure arise in beings. Bent on pleasures and seeking enjoyment, these men fall prey to birth and decay. Beset by craving, people run about like an entrapped hare. Held fast by mental fetters, they come to suffering again and again for a long time. Beset by craving, people run about like an entrapped hare. Therefore, one who yearns to be passion-free should destroy his own craving. There is one who, turning away from desire (for household life) takes to the life of the forest (of a monk). But after being freed from the household, he runs back to it. Behold that man! Though freed, he runs back to that very bondage! That is not a strong fetter, the wise say, which is made of iron, wood or hemp. But the infatuation and longing for jewels and ornaments, children and wives — that, they say, is a far stronger fetter, which pulls one downward and, though seemingly loose, is hard to remove. This, too, the wise cut off. Giving up sensual pleasure, and without any longing, they renounce the world. Those who are lust-infatuated fall back into the swirling current (of samsara) like a spider on its self-spun web. This, too, the wise cut off. Without any longing, they abandon all suffering and renounce the world. Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the present, and cross over to the farther shore of existence. With mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and death. For a person tormented by evil thoughts, who is passion-dominated and given to the pursuit of pleasure, his craving steadily grows. He makes the fetter strong, indeed. He who delights in subduing evil thoughts, who meditates on the impurities and is ever mindful — it is he who will make an end of craving and rend asunder Mara's fetter. He who has reached the goal, is fearless, free from craving, passionless, and has plucked out the thorns of existence — for him this is the last body. He who is free from craving and attachment, is perfect in uncovering the true meaning of the Teaching, and knows the arrangement of the sacred texts in correct sequence — he, indeed, is the bearer of his final body. He is truly called the profoundly wise one, the great man. A victor am I over all, all have I known. Yet unattached am I to all that is conquered and known. Abandoning all, I am freed through the destruction of craving. Having thus directly comprehended all by myself, whom shall I call my teacher? The gift of Dhamma excels all gifts; the taste of the Dhamma excels all tastes; the delight in Dhamma excels all delights. The Craving-Freed vanquishes all suffering. Riches ruin only the foolish, not those in quest of the Beyond. By craving for riches the witless man ruins himself as well as others. Weeds are the bane of fields, lust is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of lust yields abundant fruit. Weeds are the bane of fields, hatred is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of hatred yields abundant fruit. Weeds are the bane of fields, delusion is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of delusion yields abundant fruit. Weeds are the bane of fields, desire is the bane of mankind. Therefore, what is offered to those free of desire yields abundant fruit.

Thomas Cleary explains that the elephant is here being used as a symbol for the self.....which explains a lot.... Re........that sluggard undergoes rebirth again and again.....Cleary, avoiding any dogmatic assertion of the truth - or not - of rebirth/reincarnation, comments that this line means "to enter into a matrix of dependency again and again by the inertia of subconscious habits."

The Elephant As an elephant in the battlefield withstands arrows shot from bows all around, even so shall I endure abuse. There are many, indeed, who lack virtue. A tamed elephant is led into a crowd, and the king mounts a tamed elephant. Best among men is the subdued one who endures abuse. Excellent are well-trained mules, thoroughbred Sindhu horses and noble tusker elephants. But better still is the man who has subdued himself. Not by these mounts, however, would one go to the Untrodden Land (Nibbana), as one who is self-tamed goes by his own tamed and well-controlled mind. Musty during rut, the tusker named Dhanapalaka is uncontrollable. Held in captivity, the tusker does not touch a morsel, but only longingly calls to mind the elephant forest. When a man is sluggish and gluttonous, sleeping and rolling around in bed like a fat domestic pig, that sluggard undergoes rebirth again and again. Formerly this mind wandered about as it liked, where it wished and according to its pleasure, but now I shall thoroughly master it with wisdom as a mahout controls with his ankus an elephant in rut. Delight in heedfulness! Guard well your thoughts! Draw yourself out of this bog of evil, even as an elephant draws himself out of the mud. If for company you find a wise and prudent friend who leads a good life, you should, overcoming all impediments, keep his company joyously and mindfully. If for company you cannot find a wise and prudent friend who leads a good life, then, like a king who leaves behind a conquered kingdom, or like a lone elephant in the elephant forest, you should go your way alone. Better it is to live alone; there is no fellowship with a fool. Live alone and do no evil; be carefree like an elephant in the elephant forest. Good are friends when need arises; good is contentment with just what one has; good is merit when life is at an end, and good is the abandoning of all suffering (through Arahantship). In this world, good it is to serve one's mother, good it is to serve one's father, good it is to serve the monks, and good it is to serve the holy men. Good is virtue until life's end, good is faith that is steadfast, good is the acquisition of wisdom, and good is the avoidance of evil.

As I see it - or not - the visible world, complete with time, is how the eternal reality is made known to us as "selves". To be honest, to dip into any Philosophical work concerning the "nature of time" is to find myself well out of my depth. I know from personal experience just how elastic time is, how the duration of time during sex (for instance... ) seems far different than the duration of time when sitting in the dentists chair. And of how time itself seems to be so often non-existent when we are "lost" to ourselves in the love of others, or the love of things.

Yes Joseph, we see eye to eye! There seems much confusion between "eternal" understood as an endless duration of time, and what could be called the mystical understanding, where "eternal" is the deeper dimension of reality. "The present has no extension but intensity"....(Lama Anagarika Govinda) As I see it, there cannot help be confusion when the Word is taken to be "text" and not Person. When that Person, within time, spoke in Aramaic, words then recorded in Greek, than translated into Latin, then into English.

Given the current chapter title, "Hell", perhaps a few words are in order. The main difference between the various Buddhist hells and the hell of certain Christian teachings, is that for Buddhism hell is never eternal. Like all things, it falls under the teaching that all things are impermanent. For Buddhism, the suffering of hell is educative/redemptive, and never vengeful, nor the supposed imposition of "justice" by a wrathful deity. For Buddhism, it is inevitable that certain ways of living and thinking will bring suffering in their wake.... ...for someone who understands that a life prompted by selfish conditioning has to involve duhkha (suffering), such is inherent in any experience conditioned by karma......(Easwaran, "Dhammapada") Easwaran also mentions an ancient Indian story, of a kind ruler who upon death reaches his destination. After a while he remarks to one of his companions, "heaven is a far happier place than ever I anticipated", whereupon he was informed that he was actually in hell! He was told "people here are miserable, but in your presence their suffering turns to joy." Our mental state is paramount. Milton, from "Paradise Lost"... The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heaven hell or hell of heaven.

Cleary states that many of the verses in this chapter are "specifically presented as warnings to those inclined to zealotry in the name of spirituality."

Hell The liar goes to the state of woe; also he who, having done (wrong), says, "I did not do it." Men of base actions both, on departing they share the same destiny in the other world. There are many evil characters and uncontrolled men wearing the saffron robe. These wicked men will be born in states of woe because of their evil deeds. It would be better to swallow a red-hot iron ball, blazing like fire, than as an immoral and uncontrolled monk to eat the alms of the people. Four misfortunes befall the reckless man who consorts with another's wife: acquisition of demerit, disturbed sleep, ill-repute, and (rebirth in) states of woe. Such a man acquires demerit and an unhappy birth in the future. Brief is the pleasure of the frightened man and woman, and the king imposes heavy punishment. Hence, let no man consort with another's wife. Just as kusa grass wrongly handled cuts the hand, even so, a recluse's life wrongly lived drags one to states of woe. Any loose act, any corrupt observance, any life of questionable celibacy — none of these bear much fruit. If anything is to be done, let one do it with sustained vigor. A lax monastic life stirs up the dust of passions all the more. An evil deed is better left undone, for such a deed torments one afterwards. But a good deed is better done, doing which one repents not later. Just as a border city is closely guarded both within and without, even so, guard yourself. Do not let slip this opportunity (for spiritual growth). For those who let slip this opportunity grieve indeed when consigned to hell. Those who are ashamed of what they should not be ashamed of, and are not ashamed of what they should be ashamed of — upholding false views, they go to states of woe. Those who see something to fear where there is nothing to fear, and see nothing to fear where there is something to fear — upholding false views, they go to states of woe. Those who imagine evil where there is none, and do not see evil where it is — upholding false views, they go to states of woe. Those who discern the wrong as wrong and the right as right — upholding right views, they go to realms of bliss.

Picking up where I left off...........I've been reading "Crime and Punishment" by Doestoevsky (for the second time) and it was near the end when my rambling brains and memory were jogged by the episode where the convicted murderer Raskolikov (may have spelt that wrong, even after two readings - I tend to "blip" over these long Russian names as I read) finally falls and embraces his "saviour", the ex-prostitute Sonia, and all his theories are replaced by life itself, and love, and he begins the long path to redemption. This - at least for me - is the meaning and significance of seeking to by-pass "viewpoints", and deeper, of the reality of Buddhist "non-duality" which seeks to replace living in a world of distinctions, with a lived reality that does not so much eradicate them as transcend them, or as Merton once said, speaking of the Middle Way, that such a "way" is not so much a "third position lying between two extremes, but a no-position that supersedes them both." Maybe this all seems mumbo jumbo, of no particular relevance, yet as I see it, it is the distinctions we make, and the ardent viewpoints we hold, that divide us from others.......this when they are taken and grasped as definitive, and used to justify ourselves, rather than living in grace, "justified" only by the mercy/freedom/grace/love/spontaneity of the Divine/Reality-as-is. So, though reality is beyond words and ineffable, and "the Non-dual is that before which words recoil", nevertheless..... ..to leave the senses is to be attached to the senses, and to leave names and letters is to be attached to names and letters. And.......Speech is blasphemy, silence a lie. Above speech and silence there is a way out. And.......Tao is beyond names and namelessness. All because "what is inexpressible is inexhaustible in its use."

two warrior-kings (eternalism and nihilism) The text speaks of "slaying" the two views of eternalism and nihilism ( or annihilationism ). Eternalism is the belief in a permanent substance or entity, either as substance or individual souls, created or not..............while annihilationism asserts the temporary existence of separate selves which are entirely destroyed/dissolved at death. As I understand it, all such dualities are rejected by Buddhism. This, not in favour of "the one" or a simple "non-duality", but for a lived experience that in a certain sense embraces the dualities. The Dharma would see the holding to "views" as being antithetical to any true "progress" towards the "deliverance of mind" that the path seeks. Any such grasping leaves one more with "philosophy" and divisive "viewpoints", rather than the opening to reality as it is. Anyway, I will seek out a few relevant quotes and post them another time.

Miscellaneous If by renouncing a lesser happiness one may realize a greater happiness, let the wise man renounce the lesser, having regard for the greater. Entangled by the bonds of hate, he who seeks his own happiness by inflicting pain on others, is never delivered from hatred. The cankers only increase for those who are arrogant and heedless, who leave undone what should be done and do what should not be done. The cankers cease for those mindful and clearly comprehending ones who always earnestly practice mindfulness of the body, who do not resort to what should not be done, and steadfastly pursue what should be done. Having slain mother (craving), father (self-conceit), two warrior-kings (eternalism and nihilism), and destroyed a country (sense organs and sense objects) together with its treasurer (attachment and lust), ungrieving goes the holy man. Having slain mother, father, two brahman kings (two extreme views), and a tiger as the fifth (the five mental hindrances), ungrieving goes the holy man. Those disciples of Gotama ever awaken happily who day and night constantly practice the Recollection of the Qualities of the Buddha. Those disciples of Gotama ever awaken happily who day and night constantly practice the Recollection of the Qualities of the Dhamma. Those disciples of Gotama ever awaken happily who day and night constantly practice the Recollection of the Qualities of the Sangha. Those disciples of Gotama ever awaken happily who day and night constantly practice Mindfulness of the Body. Those disciples of Gotama ever awaken happily whose minds by day and night delight in the practice of non-violence. Those disciples of Gotama ever awaken happily whose minds by day and night delight in the practice of meditation. Difficult is life as a monk; difficult is it to delight therein. Also difficult and sorrowful is the household life. Suffering comes from association with unequals; suffering comes from wandering in samsara. Therefore, be not an aimless wanderer, be not a pursuer of suffering. He who is full of faith and virtue, and possesses good repute and wealth — he is respected everywhere, in whatever land he travels. The good shine from afar, like the Himalaya mountains. But the wicked are unseen, like arrows shot in the night. He who sits alone, sleeps alone, and walks alone, who is strenuous and subdues himself alone, will find delight in the solitude of the forest.

Yes, I was pondering the whole idea of what is "ours" and of "uncarved blocks" and hit upon a few words somewhere that spoke of carving/sculpting/chipping, that would have seemed at first to be an opposite. Yet the idea was (it was speaking of a sculptor of elephants) that the sculptor themselves would sit for hours - even days - with the uncarved block before them, then eventually they would precede to begin chipping away - yet not so much to create the elephant, but more to reveal/unveil the elephant that was actually already there. Really, this is the "path" of Pure Land, yet instead of a chisel there is the light of Infinite Compassion that allows the seeing of that which must needs be taken away - and the seeing is the taking away. So my own part of the bargain is to see the tricks of the self, its petty spites - and much else - yet not with revolted condemnation, nor anger, nor shame..........but to just to acknowledge the seeing in the light of a non-judgemental compassion that seeks to unveil that which is "true". A truth that can never be "mine" and therefore can never be a source of division between myself and others. Which brings to mind the words of Thomas Merton, spoken not long before his untimely death.... True communication on the deepest level is more than a simple sharing of ideas, conceptual knowledge, or formulated truth...............And the deepest level of communication is not communication, but communion. It is wordless, it is beyond words, and it is beyond speech, and it is beyond concept. Not that we discover a new unity. We discover an older unity. My dear brothers and sisters, we are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.

The Shakers remain as witnesses to the fact that only humility keeps man in communion with truth, and first of all with his own inner truth. This one must know without knowing it, as they did. For as soon as a man becomes aware of "his truth" he lets go of it and embraces an illusion. The above quote is from a letter of Thomas Merton and for me opens the way to some degree of understanding of exactly what is being pointed to by such words/doctrines as "not-self" and "anatta". Selflessness. "Anatta" as I see it (or not........ ) is not a "Buddhist" teaching/doctrine, but seeks to speak of that which is the heart of any faith. A Ch'an master spoke of the self same thing when he said that each of us carries a light within themselves, "but when it is looked at it is turned into darkness." This seems to be so because it speaks of our true reality, "which cannot be carved and needs no polishing." Recently there was a thread on another forum where someone seemed eager to speak of their "good works" and another reminded them of Christ's words about hiding such "works".... 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 6:2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6:3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 6:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. (King James Bible, Matthew) It would seem, at least to me, that "our" works should be hidden even from ourselves! I have been reading a short book on the early Ch'an masters and much of what they say (leaving aside such things as cutting cats in half and speaking of cypress trees in the garden..... ) relates to all this.......the world of not-self, no striving and letting God be God, allowing God to play in us rather than us seeking to play God. "Wherever goodness flows unexpectedly from us, uncontaminated by the ideas of duty or sanction, there is Zen".....or, Christ. "There is nothing that you can claim, nothing that you can demand, nothing that you can take. And as soon as you try to take something as if it were your own - you lose your Eden." "What is inexpressible is inexhaustible in its use." "It is because they were selfless that their selves were realized." Anyway, perhaps enough for now.

Regarding the words that "you yourself must strive", Cleary makes the point that the relationship between anyone who teaches and the one who learns is "not one of emotional, intellectual, or institutional dependency" and that no amount of help can do for us what we need to do for ourselves. Cleary also makes the point that the Dhammapada speaks here not of the "selflessness" (not-self, Pali anatta) of persons but of the selflessness of "things". This is in accord with the Mahayana view that the selflessness of persons is realized as a positive fact of unlimited potential based on the selflessness of phenomena/things. Another insight offered in Cleary's commentary is - regarding the Dhammapada words that we should conduct ourselves so that wisdom increases............."the problems we often experience in the process of self-renewal is to imagine that we need to remove or replace what we only need to rearrange, and that we only need to rearrange what we must remove or replace!" As a new Grandad, the words of the final three verses can appear to be set against family relationships and the love/attachment they involve. But Cleary says..... Such aphorisms do not mean that we should abandon our children and dessert our families and homes, but that we should abandon our own subjective obsessions about them and deal with people and things objectively, above all not expecting their love and affection to absolve us of our own responsibilities, and realizing our own love and affection for them does not remove the responsibility of their own consciousness and their own journey from the shoulders of their own experience.

The Path Of all the paths the Eightfold Path is the best; of all the truths the Four Noble Truths are the best; of all things passionlessness is the best: of men the Seeing One (the Buddha) is the best. This is the only path; there is none other for the purification of insight. Tread this path, and you will bewilder Mara. Walking upon this path you will make an end of suffering. Having discovered how to pull out the thorn of lust, I make known the path. You yourselves must strive; the Buddhas only point the way. Those meditative ones who tread the path are released from the bonds of Mara. "All conditioned things are impermanent" — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification. "All conditioned things are unsatisfactory" — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification. "All things are not-self" — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification. The idler who does not exert himself when he should, who though young and strong is full of sloth, with a mind full of vain thoughts — such an indolent man does not find the path to wisdom. Let a man be watchful of speech, well controlled in mind, and not commit evil in bodily action. Let him purify these three courses of action, and win the path made known by the Great Sage. Wisdom springs from meditation; without meditation wisdom wanes. Having known these two paths of progress and decline, let a man so conduct himself that his wisdom may increase. Cut down the forest (lust), but not the tree; from the forest springs fear. Having cut down the forest and the underbrush (desire), be passionless, O monks! For so long as the underbrush of desire, even the most subtle, of a man towards a woman is not cut down, his mind is in bondage, like the sucking calf to its mother. Cut off your affection in the manner of a man plucks with his hand an autumn lotus. Cultivate only the path to peace, Nibbana, as made known by the Exalted One. "Here shall I live during the rains, here in winter and summer" — thus thinks the fool. He does not realize the danger (that death might intervene). As a great flood carries away a sleeping village, so death seizes and carries away the man with a clinging mind, doting on his children and cattle. For him who is assailed by death there is no protection by kinsmen. None there are to save him — no sons, nor father, nor relatives. Realizing this fact, let the wise man, restrained by morality, hasten to clear the path leading to Nibbana.

Regarding the final words of the last Chapter quoted, that peace is not achieved unless "inflowing thoughts" are eliminated............... The Pali word used for "inflowing thoughts" and their elimination is asavakkhayam. "Asava" is - according to the Buddhist Dictionary of Nyantiloka, "Taints, corruptions, intoxicants, biases" as well as "cankers".....which themselves are of four kinds - sense-desire, wrong views, ignorance and the desire for "eternal existence" . So quite a lot to extinguish before peace is achieved! As I understand it, even in Theravada - which often speaks to those of the monastic tradition - any "extinguishing" is more a by-product of wisdom/insight than a deliberate attempt to reject thought etc etc. (Such wisdom gained by the various methods of meditation detailed in the Pali Texts.) For those wishing to "extinguish" such cankers while living in the world, then one needs to explore the world of Mahayana/zen/Ch'an and the advice of their various "masters". And for those living in the world who find them impossible to extinguish, then I would advise looking at the Pure Land path......

The Righteous One is not righteous if one decides a case without due consideration, but the wise man who takes into account both for and against, and comes to his decision about others with due consideration -- such a man of discrimination who keeps to the truth, he is to be called righteous. One is not a learned man by virtue of much speaking. He who is patient, without anger and fearless, he is to be called learned. One is not a bearer of the teaching by virtue of much speaking, but he who, even if he has only studied a little, has experienced the truth in person, he is indeed a bearer of the teaching, who has not forgotten the teaching. One is not an elder by virtue of having white hair. One is just advanced in years, and called "grown old in vain". He in whom there is truthfulness, non violence, restraint and self control, however -- that wise and faultless sage is to be called an elder. It is not just by fine speech or by flower-like beauty that one is admirable, if one is envious, mean and deceitful, but when that sort of behaviour has been eliminated, rooted out and destroyed, that faultless sage is said to be admirable. A shaven head does not make one a man of religion, if one is irreligious and untruthful. How could a man full of desires and greed be a man of religion? But when a man has put aside all evil deeds, both great and small, by that putting away of evil deeds he is indeed called a man of religion. One is not a bhikkhu by virtue of taking alms from others. By taking up any old teaching, one is not a bhikkhu on that account. But he who has here and now ejected both good and evil, and in leading the holy life lives in accordance with reason -- he is indeed called a bhikkhu. Silence does not make a sage if he is stupid and ignorant, but when a man avoids evil as if he were choosing something of value on the scales -- he is a sage. That indeed makes him a sage. He who discriminates in both worlds is for that reason called a sage. One is not noble if one harms other living creatures. It is by non violence to all forms of life that one is called noble. It is not just by means of morality and religious observances, not by great learning nor by attainments in meditation, nor by living alone, nor by thinking,"I am enjoying a spiritual happiness which ordinary people do not know" that a bhikkhu achieves peace if he has not achieved the elimination of inflowing thoughts.

Just gathering together a few thoughts on "striving". Like most words and thoughts, each has it sphere of meaning, outside of which they can cause confusion and appear to create contradiction. For me it mostly relates to the distinction between enlightenment understood as "sudden", as opposed to being seen as a gradual advancement. When the latter, it seems inevitable that we relate to ourselves as a "self" in need of "polishing" (or, in Christian terms, as a self in need of being made presentable to God, a way of "works") Yet there is nothing to polish, just as in Christianity the way of works is blind to the pure gift of grace, the gift of the Divines very own freedom and spontaneity to us, a given - to be realised, not earned or attained. When we strive to "earn" or seek to attain gradually to a state of enlightenment, then "truth", "goodness", "wisdom" - or whatever - all become objects outside of ourselves that we think we must come to be, or to "have". And this in effect makes them unattainable. As I understand it, all such words point rather to realities - A reality - that is more a fount of wisdom that is a flowing stream that can never be "ours", but is the ineffable Tao itself. How do we "strive" to realise such? For me, by a negative way of seeing the fultility of any form of striving! Of seeking to be open at all times, mindful, and catching the self when it plays its games of self justification, of comparisons with others who do not measure up to our own esteemed "spirituality"! Maybe an excuse for more of Merton.....The spiritual life is something that people worry about when they are so busy with something else they think they ought to be spiritual. Spiritual life is guilt. Up here in the woods is seen the New Testament: that is to say, the wind comes through the trees and you breathe it. from "Day of a Stranger" And while I indulge, another............. Our real journey in life is interior: it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts. from "The Road to Joy", sub-titled "Letters to New and Old Friends" To finish, I am becoming reaquainted with a old friend myself, the Bodhicaryavatara of Shantideva, an 8th century Mahayana text, the title translated into English as "A Guide to the Bodhisttva's Way of Life", where the Spirit of Awakening is seen to be that which seeks to awaken for the sake of All, and not for oneself. Just a reminder, which I need from time to time.

Well Joseph, in a way you speak to the converted! As I mentioned in the OP to this thread........ I would also say that though I still choose to identify as a Buddhist, it is the Pure Land way that most appeals to me, which is the way of faith/grace - the so called "easy way". Theravada (and therefore the Dhammapada) represents the "way of the sages, where one developes wisdom and gains enlightenment". In the Pure Land we "return to the foolish self to be saved by Amida" I've quoted nbfore the words of a Theravada bhikkhu, speaking of the moment of emancipation (or "enlightenment"), that "effort falls away, having reached the end of its scope." It seems to me that the real questions revolve around the actual scope of "effort", and this is where our actual paths - as we experience them in our own trek - diverge. Obviously, there will always be those individuals - and those faiths - that insist that only a certain "trek" leads to "salvation", a way defined by a particular book and mode of interpreting it. Even Buddhism, which is often noted for its openess, has the claim within the Theravada Canon of Scripture, that it represents the "only way", and that true "emancipation/deliverance" can only be found within its own particular walls. Theravada has evolved within various cultures beyond its heartlands, and within such has found multiple expressions, these known as the Mahayana (the great vehicle) of salvation, and these have left the "one way" in favour of such texts as the Lotus Sutra, in the Parable of the Dharma Rain.... I bring fullness and satisfaction to the world, like rain that spreads its moisture everywhere. Eminent and lowly, superior and inferior, observers of precepts, violators of precepts, those fully endowed with proper demeanor, those not fully endowed, those of correct views, of erroneous views, of keen capacity, of dull capacity - I cause the Dharma rain to rain on all equally, never lax or neglectful. When all the various living beings hear my Law, they receive it according to their power, dwelling in their different environments..... ..The Law of the Buddhas is constantly of a single flavour, causing the many worlds to attain full satisfaction everywhere; by practicing gradually and stage by stage, all beings can gain the fruits of the way. Such is "apaya" - or "skilful means" - the way in which Reality-as-is "works" untiringly for the salvation of all, in infinite ways. And all this brings to mind the words of the Christian mystic Meister Eckhart, words which take of deeper and deeper significance - at least for me, as I've pondered them and reflected upon them over the years......"They do HIm wrong who take God in just one particular way; they have the way rather than God." So for me the "one way" is Grace. And we strive until we "know it".

Just to mention that Cleary, in his commentray, makes the point that much said here represents that which is offered for contemplative exercises and is NOT "philosophical dogma". Regarding v243, Buddhism considers ignorance - in all its guises - as being the root of all evil, and thus as the supreme impurity. The final verses explain why the way of the dharma is "trackless" and cannot be reduced to fixed dogma and ritual performance. Or as the Catholic monk Thomas Merton has said, creed and dogma and doctrines are not so much definitions of truth, but more parameters set against total error................and furher, echoing the Christian mystic St John of the Cross, eventually we must enter upon the kind of way where you leave all ways and, in some sense, get lost. This all said in many ways by many faiths.

Impurity 235. You are now like a withered leaf; even the messengers of Yama (death) have drawn near you. You stand at the threshold of departure, with no provision for your journey. 236. Make of yourself a light; strive hard, without delay, and be wise; purged of moral impurities and being thus stainless, you will then enter the celestial realm of the Noble Ones. 237. Your life has now come to a close; you have come into the presence of death. There is no halting-place for you on the way, and no provision have you made for your journey. 238. Make of yourself a light; strive hard, without delay, and be wise; purged of moral impurities and being thus stainless, you will not then come again into birth and old age. 239. Little by little, ever and anon, the wise man should remove his moral impurities as a smith blows away the dross of silver. 240. As rust arising from iron straightway corrodes the very iron from which it arose, even so the evil deeds of the transgressor lead him to the state of woe. 241. Non-recitation is the rust of the scriptures; non-exertion is the rust of households; sloth is the rust of beauty; negligence is the rust of a watchman. 242. An unchaste life is the blemish of woman; niggardliness is the taint of a benefactor; impurities are indeed evils in this world and in the next. 243. But there is an impurity greater than all impurities — this is ignorance. Rid yourselves of this greatest impurity, O monks, be you free from all impurities. 244. Life is easy for him who is shameless, impudent as a crow-hero (rascal) and a slanderer, a braggart, arrogant and impure in living. 245. But life is difficult for him who is unassuming, constantly seeking that which is pure, disinterested in worldly things, not boastful, who lives in purity and is endowed with insight. 246, 247. He who destroys life here, who utters untruth, who takes what is not given to him, who goes to the wife of another, who indulges in intoxicating liquors, such a man, while in this world, destroys the root of his being. 248. Know this, O man, evil-natured ones are unrestrained; let not greed and wrongdoing lead you to untold misery for a long time. 249. People give alms according to their faith and inclination. But he who frets about the drink and food given to others does not attain peace of mind by day or by night. 250. He in whom that feeling is totally uprooted and destroyed, that person attains peace of mind by day and by night. 251. There is no fire like passion; there is no stranglehold like hatred; there is no snare like delusion; there is no torrent like craving. 252. The faults of others are easily seen, but one's own faults are perceived with difficulty. One winnows the faults of others like chaff, but conceals his own faults as a fowler covers his body with twigs and leaves. 253. If a man sees only the faults of others, and is ever taking offense, his appetite for sense pleasures increases and he is far from the eradication of his desires. 254. There is no footprint in the sky (akasa); there is no ascetic outwardly. Mankind delights in the illusory world; the Tathagatas (Buddhas) find no delight therein. 255. There is no footprint in the sky; there is no ascetic outwardly; no composite things are eternal; there is no instability in the Buddhas.

Thomas Merton, the Catholic Trappist monk, conversed with people of all faiths, and sometimes with people of none. He wrote....... "The more I am able to affirm others, to say 'yes' to them in myself, by discovering them in myself and myself in them, the more real I am. I am fully real if my own heart says yes to everyone. I will be a better Catholic, not if I can refute every shade of Protestantism, but if I can affirm the truth in it and still go further. So, too, with the Muslims, the Hindu's, the Buddhists, etc. This does not mean syncretism, indifferentism, the vapid and careless friendliness that accepts everything by thinking of nothing. There is much that one cannot 'affirm' and 'accept,' but first one must say 'yes' where one really can." (From "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander") So he sought to say "yes", this without compromising his reliance upon the mercy of God or his own fidelity to Christ. For me there is a beauty in difference. As Merton himself has said, while we all live within the same "silence", yet there is a diversity of voice. Much of this post is "cut and paste", and here is more that is relevant.......relevant in the sense that though perhaps in theory each faith is complete in and of itself, nevertheless there can be a little room for maneuver as each moves forward through time. The forms of Buddhism must change so that the essence of Buddhism remains unchanged. This essence consists of living principles that cannot bear any specific formulation. (Thich Nhat Hanh) There is a story from one of the Tibetan traditions, that speaks of a guy doing a stint walking around a monastery. He was addressed as follows.."All well and good, but should you not really be practicing the Dharma?" The man thought about this, and began to read the scriptures. Again he was addressed...."All well and good, but should you not really be practicing the Dharma?" Again the man got to thinking, then began to meditate. Again he was addressed...."All well and good, but should you not really be practicing the Dharma?" The man became totally confused and asked, "What should I then do?" And was told....."To practise means that there should be no distinction between the Dharma and your own mind." Maybe when we each realise and live the truth of our own faith, there can be a meeting with all others beyond any of our current capacity to comprehend.