09-24-2009, 12:57 AM
The notion of having a guide reminds me of the notion of having a guru. In my very brief study of Buddhism, I considered the structure of the guru/disciple relationship as offering the chance of accelerated learning, not so different from a modern concept of situational self leadership. Part of this idea is to facilitate growth to a point of self sufficiency as quickly as possible, from where the disciple can then play the role of guru for another and so on.
And so for lack of being able to find a compatible guru, I decided to self study about buddhism by book reading. Like the Ra materials, often I am reading passages in unconventional ways, the last page first and random after that. At some point I resolved that many of the very important Buddhist teachings are not available through book learning, they seem more experiential and can include unspoken energetic initiations as a byproduct of the practice.
When I realized that notion, that much of the teaching may not be well accessed within the books written or available, then I stumbled upon a Dogen practice of simply giving all the books away as a starting point. Part of the trick of giving anything away without attachment is realizing that on some level one is giving to one's other self. This made it very easy for me to give away freely all my treasured Ra Law of One books.
Maybe part of this thread is about giving things away freely, something that is easier learned experientially by doing it then through book learning or guide reading about it.
paddy
And so for lack of being able to find a compatible guru, I decided to self study about buddhism by book reading. Like the Ra materials, often I am reading passages in unconventional ways, the last page first and random after that. At some point I resolved that many of the very important Buddhist teachings are not available through book learning, they seem more experiential and can include unspoken energetic initiations as a byproduct of the practice.
When I realized that notion, that much of the teaching may not be well accessed within the books written or available, then I stumbled upon a Dogen practice of simply giving all the books away as a starting point. Part of the trick of giving anything away without attachment is realizing that on some level one is giving to one's other self. This made it very easy for me to give away freely all my treasured Ra Law of One books.
Maybe part of this thread is about giving things away freely, something that is easier learned experientially by doing it then through book learning or guide reading about it.
paddy