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The MIDDLE Path!
- Thread starter zenzero
- Start date
I think of "calm" & "thoughtful".
I have no pointers though.
No...wait....I have two:
Avoid leaping to certainty.
And don't burn the bacon.
I have no pointers though.
No...wait....I have two:
Avoid leaping to certainty.
And don't burn the bacon.
I view it as moderation. That going to anything in any extreme will probably not be beneficial in the long run.
The Middle Path is the path of discernment. You discern your desires, and do not act on the ones that are unprofitable, but do not neglect the ones that are profitable. The Middle Path of discernment between unprofitable self-indulgence and unprofitable self-affliction.
Buddha's opening words of his first sermon after his enlightenment:
Buddha's opening words of his first sermon after his enlightenment:
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion
"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata producing vision, producing knowledge leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata producing vision, producing knowledge leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
seeking4truth
Active Member
Accepting what is yours by right without denying the rights of others.
Being generous in all things without impoverishing yourself.
Being generous in all things without impoverishing yourself.
zenzero
Its only a Label
Friends,
Surely it has the connotation of Gautama Buddha's eightfold path or Paticcasamuppada etc. This to personal understanding is what was central to both Buddhism and Taoism which led to their merger and Zen to come out of this merger.
We do not know which is the middle but by BEing conscious we learm the middle or Balance as in Taoism. When we learn cycling guess we learn balance on our own, none can teach others to cycle as one has to learn it him/her self.
With everything just by BEing conscious we slowly and steadily move on the middle path and our consciousness grows through this excercise/practise.
Love & rgds
Surely it has the connotation of Gautama Buddha's eightfold path or Paticcasamuppada etc. This to personal understanding is what was central to both Buddhism and Taoism which led to their merger and Zen to come out of this merger.
We do not know which is the middle but by BEing conscious we learm the middle or Balance as in Taoism. When we learn cycling guess we learn balance on our own, none can teach others to cycle as one has to learn it him/her self.
With everything just by BEing conscious we slowly and steadily move on the middle path and our consciousness grows through this excercise/practise.
Love & rgds
WonderWho
Away
Everything in moderation...even moderation :>)
granpa
Member
exactly
the middle path is cooperation vs competition as opposed to the extremes of selflessness vs selfishness
Last edited:
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I find that the middle path is the starting point of the undefined. Seems the one more practices the middle way, the definitions of middle "move".
Jeff Strehlow
Member
I see "The Middle Path" in a couple different ways. First it's an expedient which prevents people from taking extreme views and extreme actions. Secondly it points to emptiness. And, of course, emptiness is neither on one side, nor the other, nor in the middle. It's the place of stillness of mind and without trouble (Klesha).
Ablaze
Buddham Saranam Gacchami
Nāgārjuna | नागार्जुन
Whatever is dependently co-arisen
That is explained to be emptiness.
That, being a dependent designation,
Is itself the middle way.
Mūlamadhyamakakārikā 24.18 | मूलमध्यमककारिका 24.18
Whatever is dependently co-arisen
That is explained to be emptiness.
That, being a dependent designation,
Is itself the middle way.
Mūlamadhyamakakārikā 24.18 | मूलमध्यमककारिका 24.18
