The master Siu Bao was traveling with one of his students. At length they came upon a very expensive restaurant. Now, the owner of the restaurant had heard of Siu Bao and was very proud to be visited by such an important and learned man. The owner was busy so, seeing that they had no food, he sent them on their way with the most expensive dish in the house, a vast dumpling filled with sweet sea urchin roe. Siu Bao ate heartily of his share, but when he offered half to his student the young man declined. "Oh no master, that food is too rich... how could I?" "Suit yourself," the master said, and ate the other half. Four hours later, the student's body was racked with hunger. "How far is it to the next village?" he asked. "Fifty miles," Siu Bao told him. "Good thing you skipped breakfast."
C'mon, I'm sellin' here and no one's buyin'. I MADE UP a koan, for the love of Pete! No one even called me out! I didn't know a good Chinese name for the master, so I named him after a steam bun you can buy in the store! I'm TRYING TO OFFEND YOU DAMMIT! Get back to your worldly pleasures for a second and BE ANNOYED!
Perhaps you did not intend this but that's a very valid story you came up with BigBlueHead, it's a very good depiction of how 'spiritual' ascetics fool themselves by denying themselves basic needs. It's is precisely what, according to the legend, the Buddha went through to find enlightenment. However there is not a huge gap between the folly of ascetic life and the folly of a life of fullfilling desires. They are basicaly the same thing, self indulgence, just two extremes of the spectrum. In Buddhism the 'spectrum' is represented by the wheel of samsara, sufering vs. pleasure, pleasure vs. suffering. Enlightenment is something far beyond either of them. We will always need basic things, food, water, clothing, shelter. However, there are self indulgences that we could well do without, the desire for wealth, recognition, sexual pleasure etc... These are things of Samsara, things of the path of suffering, they are not the truth, and are most definately not a path to the truth.
And (as I know you know Exsto, but just in case of misunderstanding), what he eventually left behind in order to find it.
If you are experiencing the feelings of transcending, you have not detached at all. Detachment is death. To claim that you have 'detached yourself from emotion', while indulging in the spiritual feelings of enlightenment, is a contradiction.
Enlightenment is not beyond fulfilling desires. Monks seeking enlightenment--or anyone, for that matter--are fulfulling a basic human existential desire for significance in a confusing world. Ironically, the ascetic life is also a form--albeit a bizarre one--form of fulfilling desires. Mystical experiences can come from fasting, as well as inflated egos deluded into thinking they're more 'pure' or 'spiritual' than other people because they aren't having sex. First of all, those things are not the path of suffering. Wake up: many adults have sex, and almost all of them fulfill their sexual desires in some other way. Wealthy people are, on average, happier than poor people. Recognition is a bit more sticky, but you're at best 1 for 3. How is the fulfulling of these desires any different than your desire for enlightenment, or truth? Also, to say that wealth, recognition, and sexual pleasure are not the path to the truth is totally meaningless--these are not exercises aimed at truth getting. They are truth-neutral.
Erk I'm afraid you're rather missing what Buddhism is about. You don't have to like it, but do find out about it before making wild assertions.
My assertions are not wild; and if they are, you give no reason why. Heck, you don't even specify which assertions are wild. Just because I am critical of certain interpretations of Buddhism does not mean I don't understand what Buddhism is about. That's like you saying I don't understand what Judaism is about, because I don't believe their teachings. I assert that anyone who believes they have transcended desire is deluding themselves--they have simply overcome one desire, only to replace it with another one (desire for spirituality, desire for transcendence, etc). Humans do things for one of two reasons: either forced instinct, or desire. Please give a single counterexample if you disagree.
As you like. Just trying to helpful. But don't be surprised if nobody takes your criticisms seriously.
Siu Bao and his student were enjoying refreshment at a hot dog stand. Mindful of the long journey ahead, the student was careful to procure a satisfying amount of corn relish and pickled cabbage for his hot dog. Suddenly a man ran up to the hot dog stand, threw down a few coins, and said, "GIVE ME A HOT DOG RIGHT NOW!" The proprietor, unwilling to refuse such a sudden and desperate request, immediately gave a hot dog to the agitated man, who wolfed it down in three huge bites. Smiling, with mustard on his chin, he sighed in satisfaction - and then fell down, stone dead. Upon examination it turned out he had been bitten by a viper scant seconds before, and that he must have known that his death was assured. "That was a wise man," Siu Bao told his student. "Why is that master?" "Because his last act was to enjoy a hot dog." The student furrowed his brow in confusion. "But how does that make him wise?" The master only smiled. "In his position, most people would have died thinking about snakes." (edit for clarity)
BBB, lol, that's a funny one. Doesn't make sense, but it's funny. ERK, I choose to seek a path away from suffering, yes it is a desire aswell. The desire not to suffer, hence the paradox of exoteric Buddhism. So, you've caught me out. Well done. Now I'm going to go wish that I am getting laid, then I will wish that I am rich,,, And then I'll go wish that I won't die. Life is great isn't it? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! BTW, I don't follow Buddhism, I study it. I don't follow life, I observe it.
Makes perfect sense to me... who wants to die mourning their death by snake? Might as well eat a hot dog, 'cause it's gonna happen anyway. I'll see if I can think of a more irritating koan.
They're good stories, but you'll find it very hard to write a plausible koan, let alone an irritating one.
They're not supposed to be plausible, just irritating.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
But that would just be an advertising slogan. Or a piece of cheap gvt propaganda. Or some new age pap. Plus, to anyone actually into this stuff, it would have no effect whatsoever.
Is life about living, or observing? There I think we have one of the conflicts possible in buddhism and peoples interpretations of it.
