Aphorisms for meditation
Epistemic status: straight Buddhism
I've been enjoying learning about meditation & Zen with David Weinberg. (Here's Critch blurbing David's stress reduction course (a).)
Yesterday I attended a one-day retreat, during which David said a bunch of interesting things.
On the four bodhisattva vows (my paraphrase):
- Vow to awaken with & respond to all beings
- Vow to see through all delusions
- Vow to enter all dharma gates (i.e. take up all opportunities for practice)
- Vow to fully embody Buddha's way
Here's a Tricycle article (a) with more about the vows.
David's commentary on the vows (my paraphrase):
Among other things, they are a way of being sane in the world.
They feature a combination of open-heartedness & fierce resolve. This is quite a lot to balance, but we can do it.
Also, some aphorisms for meditation practice, derived from David's study of & Reb Anderson's commentary on the samdhinirmocana sutra:
"Am I putting labels on feelings & thoughts? Am I spinning a story about these feelings & thoughts?"
"Am I imagining that this person actually is what I'm imagining them to be?"
"Am I thinking that whatever I'm thinking about is actually what I think it is?"
I like how they drive a wedge between the map & the territory.