Noble Truths, Why Not Live in the Present, and was Buddha a pessimist etc.

Change A, modified 11 Years ago at 8/25/13 9:47 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 8/10/13 6:52 PM

Noble Truths, Why Not Live in the Present, and was Buddha a pessimist etc.

Posts: 791 Join Date: 5/24/10 Recent Posts
Harmanjit (a former Vipassana meditator/AF practitioner) has written some articles on Time, Noble Truths, and A Response to "Was the Buddha a pessimist, by S N Goenka".

What do you think about the articles?
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Bailey , modified 11 Years ago at 8/10/13 11:03 PM
Created 11 Years ago at 8/10/13 10:24 PM

RE: Noble Truths, Why Not Live in the Present, and was Buddha a pessimist e

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*edited for retirement
Adam , modified 11 Years ago at 8/11/13 4:04 PM
Created 11 Years ago at 8/11/13 4:04 PM

RE: Noble Truths, Why Not Live in the Present, and was Buddha a pessimist e

Posts: 613 Join Date: 3/20/12 Recent Posts
looks like someone who got totally stuck in the intellectual analysis of practice stage. do you think these are valuable points of view being expressed? the "why not live inthe present" seemed to be a central aspect of these articles, the idea that living in the moment is unhealthy avoidance and laziness that leaves one incapable of taking care of life at a conventional level. actually when being in "the now" one is capable of understanding past present and future at a conventional level. one simply sees that ultimately/in reality there is only now, now, now. the difference between these perspectives is that the first suffers. both are capable of working with time at a conventional level.

when u understand that there is just the now at an ultimate level it is impossible for a sense of duality to develop. there is just this immediate experience, what could possibly get into this space that would be unfriendly? if you have a past and future though you are vulnerable to millions and millions of problems. you are this little entity with all these experiences hitting you one after another, bam bam bam. no thanks! I'd prefer to be unseparate from life in an absolute sense.
Change A, modified 11 Years ago at 8/24/13 11:31 PM
Created 11 Years ago at 8/24/13 11:31 PM

RE: Noble Truths, Why Not Live in the Present, and was Buddha a pessimist e

Posts: 791 Join Date: 5/24/10 Recent Posts
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(D Z) Dhru Val, modified 11 Years ago at 8/25/13 12:09 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 8/24/13 11:59 PM

RE: Noble Truths, Why Not Live in the Present, and was Buddha a pessimist e

Posts: 346 Join Date: 9/18/11 Recent Posts
The hardcore portion of the buddhist teachings are a toolkit to deconstruct other beliefs. Not to be taken as beliefs themselves.

Traditionalist buddhist teachings like faith in the path laid out by buddhism, compassion, moral rules etc are the aspects of buddhist teachings that are ok to take on as conceptual beliefs before the true nature of reality is recognized by the practitioner.

Taking on the hard core deconstructive aspect of the buddhist teachings as a conceptual belief that is positively true is disastrous.

(I think this is the main shortcoming of hard-core dharma, we don't give practitioners any intermediary beliefs to tide them over, till they attain freedom from attachment to concepts has been realized. )
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Beoman Claudiu Dragon Emu Fire Golem, modified 11 Years ago at 8/25/13 9:45 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 8/25/13 9:45 AM

RE: Noble Truths, Why Not Live in the Present, and was Buddha a pessimist e

Posts: 2227 Join Date: 10/27/10 Recent Posts
That's a rather good critique on Buddhism! Thanks for sharing.
Change A, modified 11 Years ago at 9/7/13 8:30 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 9/7/13 8:30 AM

RE: Noble Truths, Why Not Live in the Present, and was Buddha a pessimist e

Posts: 791 Join Date: 5/24/10 Recent Posts

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