| | Author: Abe_Dunkelheit
Further, on p. 221 Alan Wallace makes a mind-boggling statement:
“While
*** the benefits attributed to the achievement of quiescence are modest within the overall framework of the Buddhist path to liberation and enlightenment, ***
they seem to be extraordinary from the perspective of modern psychology and natural science as a whole.”
I mean, you have to read this twice:
THE BENEFITS ATTRIBUTED TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF QUIESCENCE ARE MODEST WITHIN THE OVERALL FRAMEWORK OF THE BUDDHIST PATH TO LIBERATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT!!!
And these are the very words of the same very impressive Alan Wallace who is leading The Shamata Project in Santa Barbara.
Interestingly enough, In Calming the Mind (1992, 1995), a text by Gen Lamrimpa, translated by Alan Wallace, it says on p. 137:
“In the context of Sutrayana practice, the understanding arising from meditation does not occur until one has attained samatha. In terms of the Mahayana Five Paths, without shamata it is not possible to attain anything from the medium stage of the Mahayana Path of Accumulation. (…) In the context of the Hinayana Path, without shamata it is not possible to ascend to the Path of Preparation or beyond.”
And on p. 137 Gen Lamrimpa puts it diplomatically, but, of course, we can read between the lines:
“To suggest that no realization can be attained without samatha would be to disparage the realization or attainments of all those who have not attained samatha. That would be disparaging almost everyone in the world, which I would like to avoid.”
*
I am very happy to have found people like you guys who have an inkling and serious interest in these issues, because I was pretty much on my own in my struggle with these astounding and contradictory quotes in the books I have read. |