Occasionally before meditating I'll read a little excerpt from a book of daily Buddhist insights. Last night I read a thought provoking one and thought I'd share it for discussion. There are certain Buddhist traditions, as I understand it, that emphasize the concept that we have an inner "Buddha-nature" which has basically been covered over by greed hate and delusion. So the goal of practice is to get us back to that original state. On that topic, this author writes:
"Seeking the Buddha within can lead some to awakening, though it is a hard road. My concern is that this path is so frequently misconstrued and that most of us don’t need stories that inspire confidence so much as ones that engender humility. Most of us are part of a cult of individuality, and a dangerous one at that. Turning to the Buddha without as our focus can help diminish that ingrained cultural egoism and lead to a more balanced awakening that locates the Buddha not inside, but in all.
When shunyata is realized, we see that our fundamental nature is not one of inner buddhaness, but of an existence which is completely relational in nature. Thus observing the relations that underlie our practice is a powerful tool for waking up to who and how we really are, one which “de-centers” the inherent pitfall of self-orientation contained in the quest for inner buddhas."
-JEFF WILSON, Buddhism of the Heart
Thoughts? Do you tend toward one orientation or another (seeing us as having a Buddha-nature vs. not)? Or is this just another example of an unnecessary duality and they actually describe the same thing in different ways?
"Seeking the Buddha within can lead some to awakening, though it is a hard road. My concern is that this path is so frequently misconstrued and that most of us don’t need stories that inspire confidence so much as ones that engender humility. Most of us are part of a cult of individuality, and a dangerous one at that. Turning to the Buddha without as our focus can help diminish that ingrained cultural egoism and lead to a more balanced awakening that locates the Buddha not inside, but in all.
When shunyata is realized, we see that our fundamental nature is not one of inner buddhaness, but of an existence which is completely relational in nature. Thus observing the relations that underlie our practice is a powerful tool for waking up to who and how we really are, one which “de-centers” the inherent pitfall of self-orientation contained in the quest for inner buddhas."
-JEFF WILSON, Buddhism of the Heart
Thoughts? Do you tend toward one orientation or another (seeing us as having a Buddha-nature vs. not)? Or is this just another example of an unnecessary duality and they actually describe the same thing in different ways?