Sticks & stones will break my bones ...

09-17-2000, 05:22 AM

Mazu,

>From the mouths of babes comes wisdom.

Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me.
This can also be taken to mean that Maya or illusion, other words for
names, can never hurt me. The only hurt happens when we asssign
reality to and live in our world of names instead of within the world of
silence. We are mentally assigning reality to that which is unreal.
We act as if these words are the reality and live our life according
to our reactions to these words.

On the other hand silence is pregnant with possibilities and
potentialities from which arise the world As-It-Is or reality. The world
as we Think-It-Is is the world of illusion or Maya. When we act as if we
are a subject then everything else becomes word objects. This is
duality --- we as subject here and words as objects out there. When
we are not a subject it is impossible for word objects to exist since
an object requires a subject to discern it.

Now words are very useful. If I tell you how to get from your house
to another place this is useful. If I tell you how to build something
this is useful. If I tell you how to bake a cake this is useful.
This usefulness exists because the words deal with manipulating
objects that physically exist.

Words become very slippery, shaky and inexact when they are used to
describe mental objects which have no physical existence --- words
like love, happiness, hate, must, and should. If we primatily live in
the world of these types of mental objects then there is, practically
speaking, no way to avoid problems. Words --- problems. No words --- no
problems.

The question becomes how does one simply be without getting caught up
in words. More on this another time.

Victor

09-17-2000, 12:58 PM

Victor,
Thank you for your words of insight. When I was in India last year, there
was a man who had been a Tibetan Buddhist monk for many years. I invited
him to lunch, and in my arrogance I alluded to a guided meditation that I
said was a "duality". He looked at me a bit quizically with a confused look
and replied matter of factly, "There is no duality." I was shocked by the
reply, as he didn't say that the meditation was without duality. The point
being that the truth is not dependent upon the apparent duality or
non-duality of a situation. Morever, one who has realized non-duality is
not afraid of duality or operating there within. Our friend Huang Po said
"the truth is not more when realized, and is not less when it is not." The
whole incident was a humbling reminder. Why are so many people so scared of
duality or better stated apparent duality, what are they defending? Your
email reminded me of that event and I wanted to share it with you. Write
soon, I enjoy your emails.
Mazu

>From: Victor Torrico
>Reply-To: HarshaSatsangh (AT) egroups (DOT) com
>To: mazudaoyi@..., HarshaSatsangh (AT) egroups (DOT) com
>Subject: [HarshaSatsangh] Sticks & stones will break my bones ...
>Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 08:22:04 -0400
>
>Mazu,
>
>From the mouths of babes comes wisdom.
>
>Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me.
>This can also be taken to mean that Maya or illusion, other words for
>names, can never hurt me. The only hurt happens when we asssign
>reality to and live in our world of names instead of within the world of
>silence. We are mentally assigning reality to that which is unreal.
>We act as if these words are the reality and live our life according
>to our reactions to these words.
>
>On the other hand silence is pregnant with possibilities and
>potentialities from which arise the world As-It-Is or reality. The world
>as we Think-It-Is is the world of illusion or Maya. When we act as if we
>are a subject then everything else becomes word objects. This is
>duality --- we as subject here and words as objects out there. When
>we are not a subject it is impossible for word objects to exist since
>an object requires a subject to discern it.
>
>Now words are very useful. If I tell you how to get from your house
>to another place this is useful. If I tell you how to build something
>this is useful. If I tell you how to bake a cake this is useful.
>This usefulness exists because the words deal with manipulating
>objects that physically exist.
>
>Words become very slippery, shaky and inexact when they are used to
>describe mental objects which have no physical existence --- words
>like love, happiness, hate, must, and should. If we primatily live in
>the world of these types of mental objects then there is, practically
>speaking, no way to avoid problems. Words --- problems. No words --- no
>problems.
>
>The question becomes how does one simply be without getting caught up
>in words. More on this another time.
>
>Victor

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09-17-2000, 07:08 PM

-----Original Message-----
From: mazu daoyi [mailto:mazudaoyi@...]
Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2000 9:58 PM
To: HarshaSatsangh (AT) egroups (DOT) com
Subject: Re: [HarshaSatsangh] Sticks & stones will break my bones ...

Victor,
Thank you for your words of insight. When I was in India last year, there
was a man who had been a Tibetan Buddhist monk for many years. I invited
him to lunch, and in my arrogance I alluded to a guided meditation that I
said was a "duality". He looked at me a bit quizically with a confused look
and replied matter of factly, "There is no duality." I was shocked by the
reply, as he didn't say that the meditation was without duality. The point
being that the truth is not dependent upon the apparent duality or
non-duality of a situation. Morever, one who has realized non-duality is
not afraid of duality or operating there within. Our friend Huang Po said
"the truth is not more when realized, and is not less when it is not." The
whole incident was a humbling reminder. Why are so many people so scared of
duality or better stated apparent duality, what are they defending? Your
email reminded me of that event and I wanted to share it with you. Write
soon, I enjoy your emails.
Mazu

Beautifully put Mazu.

Harsha