nogard

If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him - Sheldon Kopp

stone

The first step is to cast off the literal translation. This koan is not suggesting that if you are walking down the road and Siddhartha Gautama himself appears before you that you are to take out a weapon and slay him.

Your analysis might begin by asking yourself questions about each of the elements:

What is “the Buddha”? What is the “road”? Where is the “road"? What would it mean to “kill”?

Let’s start with the “road”. Don’t think about this as a physical roadway; koans are rarely to be taken literally. Perhaps the road is the path we are following in life or perhaps it is our contemplative practice.

What would it mean to meet the Buddha while on the contemplative path? Perhaps this refers to thinking that you can clearly imagine what a Buddha is, that you can define the Buddha, or even the notion that you are the Buddha that you imagine or have defined.

We have described a situation where, within your contemplative practice, you think that you have a perfect image or definition of enlightenment. If this occurs, this koan has some instructions for you: “Kill him.” In this case, the “him” is not a person, but instead it is the image or thought of the Buddha or enlightenment.

Our koan can therefore be thought to mean the following:

If, during your contemplative practice, thoughts arise that tell you that you have arrived at a final definition or image of enlightenment, set those thoughts aside and get back to your practice.


workingwithkoans

Rowan

WTF? I thought this wuz Assville

RK2007

I shall contemplate your post Ro...

Rowan

gypsytears

The teen is still sick. I'm calling the doctor in a few minutes.

The other kids are all at school... Mr.GT is feeling better but he's home because...



















































































The Verizon people never showed up for the TV yesterday !

RK2007

gypsytears

I know!

The dude is supposedly on his way but it could just be a Leap Year Hoax .

I'm waiting for the doctor to call back about the teen's stomach virus now.

parentrecovers

worst doris day outfit ever. remember yarn bows for your hair? ...

frstnm

god its cold

Rella927

Yup cold here too Frst! *sigh*

GT! That poor kid!!!

oh and Morning Idiots!

Windex Friday let the games begin!

PaperDolls

I don't remember it, must not have been born yet.

busty day yesterday and today.
have fun

Rella927

Jen love the sig

PaperDolls

thanks.

I think I'm more Miss Sleepy Pants today. I'm going on 4 hours.
Anxiety crap or something. Then I got my self worried about C
being gone for the weekend. I'm setting myself for a crappy
weekend alone. I hate when I do that AND to top it off I'm out
of my anxiety pills.

Rowan

Get yourself some comfort foods, chick flicks, bubble baths, warm pj's, and get lots of rest this weekend, Jen.

parentrecovers

hey rolo, nice to see ya newf!

how's mr wonderful?

come over, pd, come to my house. we can dye each other's hair or somethin!

Rowan

Well I'm not wearing a yarn bow, but I did buy a headband last night! A headband! At 40! And I'm wearing it today - it looks ... cute-ish.
Mr. Wonderful is great we have a dirty weekend planned

parentrecovers

well. don't forget to

Rella927

Ditto what Rolo said! Set your self up for some ME time.......write in a journal....bubble bath-, grab a blanket and lay on the couch nap watch chicky flicks! Good to go! Positive! Positive! You will be just fine!

And Ro Ro ....ha ha ha I thought I was the only one at almost 40 wearing a headband! I have to post the picture of mine- the boyfriends sister has her own company-and she sent this to me...it is great!

Enjoy the headband Ro Ro!

Rella927