In the modern view of religion the spiritual is believed to be implanted in the subjective which means it is identical with the “I”. The “I” which is also spiritual efficacy (will and desire) is only known by me. But this is wrong because it is completely one-sided, playing off its antithesis, the objective world. Spirit is thus not truly realized as transcending both subjectivity and objectivity. Such spirit is false. Boiling this down, this false spirit is my consciousness of the immediacy of myself which then becomes my conviction and what is most fundamental in me—but which is still, nevertheless, false.
The aforesaid is the stance of ordinary, run-of-the-mill spirit that can be seen in those who believe in the “here and the now”; that a sensory moment of I am is the absolute. This is also a belief in God: a strong subjective conviction that the subject (the bare “I”) and God are intrinsically one.
I dare say, Buddhism looks upon this as being quite primitive and certainly immature (bala) because the Buddha’s enlightenment fully and completely realizes spirit in its unbifurcated and primordial form such that the Buddha sees ignorance as the bifurcation of the One Mind or Spirit into subject and object modes, both of which are empty and illusory.
Unfortunately, the unawakened ordinary person (prithagjana) is caught within the original bifurcation which is presented to him as my subjective consciousness and the world out there. This bifurcation is both unsatisfactory (duhkha) and unhealed. It is also part of a deceptive trap in which the bait is the subject—the subject that we, as immediate and undeveloped spirit, have stupidly yoked with much like a monkey grabbing a ball of sticky pitch who soon finds himself attached to the pitch ball mouth, hands, and feet. Such a condition certainly runs contrary to vimoksha or release when spirit frees itself from the subject and the latter’s unholy tie with the objective world.
A Warm Embrace - The Great Bell Chant
Read by Thich Nath Hanh, chanted by brother Phap Niem
http://vimeo.com/6518109
Perhaps the universal and compassionate sound of Buddhas Bell will save us all from the present insanities of Abrahams God and his confused followers.
Posted by: minx | April 13, 2010 at 06:52 AM
An interesting point.There is a teacher called Anadi (formerly Aziz Kristof) who has some very salient points on this very subject and (in my opinion) a very precise and logical analysis of the subject of meditation and the differentiation between Me,I Am and The Self.Here is the link:
http://www.anaditeaching.com/teachingmed0.htm
Posted by: WuWeiTV (youtube) | April 12, 2010 at 02:44 PM