When is practice towards an infinite goal not a carrot on a stick? Just eat the carrot.

What can we gain by practicing that isn't deponent on a continued practice? Eventually, if you stop doing something you've been cultivating, what you have built will deteriorate. Like sand castles on the beach.

I think organizations and philosophies like Sōtō address that problem with "Well, so just Never stop practicing." And those types of ideas can get you Really good and refined at whatever you set your mind to cultivating. However 'easier' in habit it might get over time, it will always require a constant state of effort and focus to maintain. You have to dedicate your life to an idea, a dharma, in order to force shape your mind into the desired image. And what if you ever stop that? You might regress from that image. If the above is taken seriously, how is that not being chained up with silken ropes?

I ask you, how is that method compatible with the essence behind "Obtaining no Dharma whatever is called Mind transmission. The understanding of this Mind implies no Dharma." -Huang Po?

Submitted March 28, 2018 at 04:33AM by Pikkko https://ift.tt/2undluG