What a joy to hear the Six Paramitas from a committed teacher who embodies these truths. His explanation goes deeper than I have ever understood before. Norman is a treasure and continues to inspire. Thank you both for these moment of understanding.
A direct talk on the direct method of realization. We can all be imagineers. Most people will be blown away by this view of mind as the fountainhead of reality itself. I always appreciate Zoketsu Norman fischer's teachings on imagination. Imagination, the ability to imagine, is what makes us human in the most fundamental sense. Imagination can be called "the fruit of human awareness." A Buddha whose imagination is tangled up in separation and believes that their nature is different from others' nature is a deluded person. A deluded person whose imagination has opened up to the absolute unity and in everyday life confirms that all beings share the same nature is a Buddha. I especially like Norman's framing of imagination as the direct method or way of our participating in the creation of the universe, whether we know it or not, so it would be better to know it.. The conversation reminds me of the Vimalakirti Sutra when the Buddha is asked why this Saha world (where we endure "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune") appears so yucky when the Buddha is in the world? The Buddha then touches the ground with his toes and reveals how the world looks like a jeweled bedazzled Buddha Field of infinite compassion to a Buddha. That is the actual functioning of imagination from both perspectives of a Buddha and a deluded being. The Buddhist choice is not "to be or not to be" but "how to be,." Not to ask "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them. To die," Instead we can ask, "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to body surf the waves of the sea of troubles, And by swimming end them. To awake,"
What a wonderful man. Thank you so much for this beautiful message. 🧡
What a joy to hear the Six Paramitas from a committed teacher who embodies these truths. His explanation goes deeper than I have ever understood before. Norman is a treasure and continues
to inspire. Thank you both for these moment of understanding.
A direct talk on the direct method of realization. We can all be imagineers. Most people will be blown away by this view of mind as the fountainhead of reality itself. I always appreciate Zoketsu Norman fischer's teachings on imagination. Imagination, the ability to imagine, is what makes us human in the most fundamental sense. Imagination can be called "the fruit of human awareness." A Buddha whose imagination is tangled up in separation and believes that their nature is different from others' nature is a deluded person. A deluded person whose imagination has opened up to the absolute unity and in everyday life confirms that all beings share the same nature is a Buddha. I especially like Norman's framing of imagination as the direct method or way of our participating in the creation of the universe, whether we know it or not, so it would be better to know it.. The conversation reminds me of the Vimalakirti Sutra when the Buddha is asked why this Saha world (where we endure "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune") appears so yucky when the Buddha is in the world? The Buddha then touches the ground with his toes and reveals how the world looks like a jeweled bedazzled Buddha Field of infinite compassion to a Buddha. That is the actual functioning of imagination from both perspectives of a Buddha and a deluded being. The Buddhist choice is not "to be or not to be" but "how to be,." Not to ask
"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them. To die,"
Instead we can ask,
"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to body surf the waves of the sea of troubles,
And by swimming end them. To awake,"
Lovely interview, thanks
Shalom Aleichem. Zoketsu Norman Fisher.
Really beautiful!!!!