Q5-20000809-Larry_Rosenberg-CIMC-discussion_on_practice-8142 Leandra Tejedor

Talk: 20000809-Larry_Rosenberg-CIMC-discussion_on_practice-8142 Leandra Tejedor.json Start_time: 00:30:39 Display_question: If attachment can be a source of suffering, then what about attachment to practice? Keyword_search: attachment, suffering, Buddha, ego, meditation, CIMC, no practice, Americans, Harley Davidson, views/opinions, golden tongue blabbermouth, raft Question_content: Questioner: If attachment can be a source of suffering, then what about attachment to practice? Larry: Yes, that too, of course. But here's… if you… in the Buddha’s teaching, this comes up all the time, because people will start, and they hear this teaching, and then people become absolute about it, and they'll say, oh, my God, I really like this stuff. Like you're getting attached to the practice. You better not do that. You better stop. I wouldn't worry about that. No. Let that attachment, not only be there, but let it get stronger. The time will come where, in a sense, you let go of that to move to an even more refined place. Break_line: But if you let…for example, people hear about it's, about seeing through the suffering, that is caused by ego attachment, this self, this preoccupation we have with ourselves. And so, from day one, you want to let go of it, or you feel, well, the only reason I'm coming to this meditation, is to satisfy the ego. I want to be calmer. I want to be more clear. I, I, I. Don't be too hard on yourself. You have to start somewhere. You can't lift yourself up by your own bootstraps. And so whatever energy gets you here, I don't mean literally CMIC, gets you to meditate, gets you to the cushion, gets you to look at yourself, to me, is useful. Then the time comes when that, in a sense, it self-destructs, or you see the need for… there's something about it now, that's actually holding you back. Break_line: And so, at a certain point, there is a practice, called the practice of no practice, where finally… but you don't do that on day one, where finally all the techniques, and methods, and even the teachings of the Buddha, give you a headache. That doesn't mean they're bad, because they may have gotten you to a place that's extraordinary in life. It's just that their vehicles, their crutches, their water wings, their training wheels, their things that we need to help us. Americans want to go right to, as soon as they find out, oh, there's a method. That's just the method of no method. I want that right away. It doesn't work that way. It would be like putting a three-year-old on a Harley Davidson. Five, whatever, they need a three-wheeler, for goodness sakes. I don't mean to be insulting. It’s all of us, but eventually, your point is well taken, but you don't have to be in a hurry, to let go of it. Break_line: So, in the Buddha’s teaching, he's talked about this. Where certain kinds of attachments become more, and more, subtle. You let go of the more coarse ones, over time, and then there are more subtle ones that you pick up, and then more subtle ones, until finally even the teaching itself, even the teaching itself, which becomes attachment to views, and opinions, becomes a burden. But you don't throw something away, until you have it. We don't have it yet. We don't have any… like I hear people talking now, see the Buddha. Just kill the Buddha. They heard this teaching, if you meet the Buddha on the mountain, what you do? Kill the Buddha. Sounds good, but that's actually quite an advanced practice. Break_line: What it means is, the concept of the Buddha, that's holding you back. But it may have taken you quite a ways, to help you be inspired, and learn some things. And there's a process that's been followed by thousands, over 2500 years, that makes some sense. And each one of us has to work with it in our own way. We need the Buddha right now. And the day will come when he'll just be, as one teacher called him, that golden tongue blabbermouth. But right now, let's weigh his words with respect, and use them. We need to hear some wise words. And later on, we see the Buddha coming. We just want to get out of the way. He's going to start him with another sermon, about how to live. Am I making any sense? Questioner: Very good answer for me. Break_line: Okay, the Buddha there's the final on that. The Buddha has a famous image, which is if you need a raft, to get to the other shore. Let's say you take the raft, and then you get from one side of the shore, to the other side. When you get to the shore, you don't run around carrying the raft on your back. You put it down. It got you to where you needed to go. Thank you very much. And now you don't have to cart it around anymore. It's something like that. End_time: 00:35:28