Alvaro MDF:
Florian Weps:
Many of the screwed up models about enlightenment come from idealizing practice instructions, after all.
Hello Florian,
What you wrote above is powerful. It serves as potent reminder to keep our practice of this world and in our life. Idealizing awakening to the point of absurdity can become a formidable obstacle to practice. And that's what I'm trying to do with the Graceful Exit Model. Is the GEM an ideal worthy of aspiration or could it too easily become an obstacle to practice. The answer, obviously, is some combination of each. Most of the models seem to have this dynamic at play. The models are true as long as they remain grounded in reality. The moment they enter the realm of fantasy they become "screwed up".
So the moment they enter the realm of fantasy seems to be a very important moment. Better to be on my toes here. I wouldn't want to be found dead in a fantasy about graceful exit. ;)
Alvaro MDF:
Claudiu makes the point that equanimity in death is not indicative of enlightenment: Anne Boleyn and Sir Walter Raliegh, among others, make his point well. I agree with him, however, the Graceful Exit Model and the accounts of the deaths of awakened beings go hand in hand.
The death of awakened beings. What does that mean? Does it even make sense?
Alvaro MDF:
It's very interesting that you bring up the case of Jesus. There are two versions of his death. The first is charcterized by sadness and despair (see gospels Matthew and Mark). The second version is filled with love, compassion and equanimity (see gospels Luke and John). In the story of the death of Jesus we can actually see the Graceful Exit Model taking shape. The real being interwoven with the ideal.
Yup. To the extent that Christianity is almost exclusively a cult of the dying Jesus nowadays, and anything he had to say about practising his teachings is all but forgotten. Also, notice how John is apparently the most popular gospel, but it's also the one with all the idealistic "I am ..." sayings where the other three have actual practice instructions.
Interesting topic... I'm all for dismantling the realm of fantasy (in the sense of fantasizing about our experience), freeing up the resources it binds up for its maintenance. So it's always good to see how the realm of fantasy co-opts the very means we use for freeing up said resources.
Cheers,
Florian