Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Middle Way between extremes

Can you rest between extremes?

Between
existence and non-existence,
eternalism and nihilism,
acceptance and rejection,
affirmation and denial,
real and unreal,
hope and fear,
right and wrong,
good and bad,
beginning and end,
something and nothing.

Where is the middle between
'I got it' and 'I don't have it',
'This is it' and 'this is not it',
'This is good' and 'this is bad',
'Yes' and 'No'.

The Buddha taught that any fixed position that we take is the result of ignorance and the cause of future suffering.  Whenever you establish a ground, you are forced to defend that ground.  The need to defend yourself, your views, identity, culture, lifestyle; your very existence- creates a lot of problems.  The short list is fear, uncertainty, doubt and guilt; on the flip side arrogance, anger, power, manipulation and exploitation.

The middle way between extremes is the practice of groundlessness.  You could compare it to learning how to surf or float on water.  At first it might seem impossible, but with practice you discover that groundlessness can effortlessly carry much more weight and without all of the friction and stress of having a ground. 







 

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