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Deciphering master Línjì
July 4th, 2013 (July 5th, 2013)
illustration

illustration (attribution, if any possible, is at the end of the article)

Deciphering master Línjì:
the "true man of no rank", of no social position


Wanting to be "on top", i.e. wanting to control the world you live in? Separation between you and your world… dukkha: दुक्ख
(gplus.wallez.name/jHNH7gybmks).

Wanting to be "taken care of", i.e. wanting the world to provide for you? Separation between you and your world… sdug bsngal: སྡུག་བསྔལ། (gplus.wallez.name/DjAYjKPMi6x).


"In the world" (not above, not below) is the only way to influence the world. This is your world. There is no other world for you than your world…

You live in inter-dependence with your world: it wouldn't be "the same" without you, you wouldn't be "the same" without it… So there's no point in seeking separation.

Attempting to be separate is implicitly or explicitly believing in an inherent 'self' that is not inter-dependent with its own world. Thinking it's "you versus them", or "you versus the world", is ku:  (gplus.wallez.name/KW8EX6VBh1m).

The main ignorance is to imagine that we could have a life free of suffering while still clinging to our ego, clinging to what's 'ours' (incl. our family, our friends, etc.), clinging to what is dear to us. The main error is to confuse 'loving' with 'clinging' (gplus.wallez.name/1MbfaYEhnNt).

Ignorance supports the hope of being smarter than others before us, the hope of finding a way to cling to what's impermanent but without experiencing losses (that will inevitably come when impermanence manifests)… Hoping for the permanency of what's conditioned and impermanent, is not "seeing things as they are"; it rather is the very root of suffering. The lust for an "enlightened self" is ko:


"In the world" (not above, not below) is the only way to influence. To be on the receiving end of a one-way relationship comes without an ability to "respond appropriately", not even gratitude. If you cannot even be grateful of what you get, how do you think your suffering might cease?

Today, did you express your heartfelt appreciation to anyone yet? Not just out of habit and automaticity (wholesome conditioning, but still karma…), but truly 'meaning' it, being 'present' to it?


दुक्ख, སྡུག་བསྔལ། and all mean unsatisfactoriness, suffering…

#Buddhism  
photo (source: http://flic.kr/p/5k2KTf): "…and they danced 'til dawn!" © Valerie
 http://www.flickr.com/people/ucumari/