Practice Over Parables
La práctica antes que las parábolas- por Jason Garner
Un profesor de Zen me dijo una vez algo interesante. Estábamos meditando juntos en mi casa cuando mi perro empezó a ladrar. Sintió mi agitación y dijo con su rico acento de Tasmania: "No seas esnob con los sonidos. “Son solo sonidos" Esas palabras se me han quedado grabadas. Tendemos a ser muy exigentes con el ruido en la meditación. Consideramos que la música, las campanillas o los cánticos en particular son "hermosos", mientras que los ruidos de la vida cotidiana son una "distracción". Es como me dijo otro maestro una vez cuando me indicó que abriera los ojos durante la meditación: "Excluimos gran parte de la vida cuando cerramos los ojos".
Ese tiende a ser un tema importante para la mayoría de nosotr@s en la espiritualidad: tratar de utilizar la práctica o creencias espirituales para excluir las partes de nuestra vida que consideramos malas. De hecho, si somos honestos, el deseo de desconectarnos de todas las cosas que no nos gustan suele ser el primer motivador para sintonizarnos con la espiritualidad. Yo aprendí a meditar por esa razón. Quería ser como las imágenes que había visto en las películas donde el monje feliz flota sobre los problemas del mundo aparentemente ajeno a cualquier cosa que no sean los ángeles tocando un arpa de oro en su hombro. Es lo que imaginaba que encontraría en el Templo Shaolin hasta que llegué allí y encontré monjes con iPhones y las mismas esperanzas, sueños y temores que el resto de nosotr@s. Ellos simplemente practicaban habilidades para manejar todas estas cosas.
Hay muchas historias en el mundo espiritual sobre gurús con poderes especiales. La mayoría de mis maestr@s eran estudiantes de esos gurús y much@s tienen historias asombrosas de lo que presenciaron a los pies de sus maestr@s ... milagros, podríamos llamarlos. Me gustan esas historias y tiendo a creer la mayoría de ellas. Pero también decidí hace mucho tiempo no hacer de eso la base de mi práctica. Nunca quise una historia fantástica o una creencia mágica como base para mi espiritualidad. Es demasiado fácil que todo se derrumbe de ese modo, con un escándalo o denuncia o un cubo lleno de fría realidad. En cambio, elegí encontrar maestr@s con quienes me identificara como persona y que vivieran la vida de una manera hábil que me gustaría emular. En resumen, elegí la práctica antes que las parábolas.
Preguntas semilla para la reflexión: ¿Qué opinas de la noción de que las imágenes de la espiritualidad nos distraen de dejar entrar la vida? ¿Puedes compartir una historia personal de un momento en el que encontraste inspiración en la práctica humilde? ¿Qué te ayuda a evitar distraerte con las parábolas y mantenerte arraigado en la práctica como base de tu espiritualidad?
Excerpted from here.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What do you make of the notion that images of spirituality distract us from letting life in? Can you share a personal story of a time you found inspiration in humble practice? What helps you avoid getting distracted by parables and stay rooted to practice as the foundation for your spirituality?
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13 Past Reflections
On Jun 6, 2021 Urvi wrote :
The sentence that resonated witm me the most is, " I chose instead to find teachers who I identify with as people and who live life in a skillful way that I want to emulate, In short, HI chose practice over parables."
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On May 28, 2021 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
To me spirituality means relating to life with an open mind and an open heart.It meansfacing life with non-judgmentalawareness. In order to be free from my suffering I need to go through it with compassion. I pay my kind attention to my own suffering without being carried away by distractions. I follow the same way when I relate to someone going through hard times. This is the way we evolve to thrive personally, interpersonally and collectively.
Spiritual evolution tales time. Having someone as a model in spiritual journey has been very helpful to me. In my culture such a person is called a guru. I was blessed to have my parents as my gurus. They not only believedin simple and humble living but they lived that way. Mahatma Gandhi also was model for my father and for me. Seeing people living modestly and humbly and learning from them provided a basis for my spiritual evolution. I am very grateful to them.
Spiritual evolution is an inner work. Reading books and articles like this onewrit... [View Full Comment]
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On May 25, 2021 Merritt wrote :
My mom was a mystic. That is the soup I grew up in. A one on one with a mystic. When I came to her with a personal reality, a problem or challenge her answer was esoteric. “You must change your state of consciousness or this pattern will keep repeating.”
How does one change ones state of consciousness?
” By meditating. By realizing the world is an allusion. By not buying into the world of mind. By connecting only to the divine.”
She had fallen trap of the spiritual bypass or spiritual senile.
It took me 5 decades to figure this out. That’s how brain washed I was. No wonder I went off and studied shamanism & became an herbalist.
How does one change ones state of consciousness?
” By meditating. By realizing the world is an allusion. By not buying into the world of mind. By connecting only to the divine.”
She had fallen trap of the spiritual bypass or spiritual senile.
It took me 5 decades to figure this out. That’s how brain washed I was. No wonder I went off and studied shamanism & became an herbalist.
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On May 25, 2021 Eleanor wrote :
Do images of spirituality distract us from letting the present (life) in? I agree that comfortable images can be used to excludethe parts of life we think of as bad. They can also be used to help get through the difficult parts. St. Paul said, "Test everything, hold on to that which is good." That's what I hope that I do with parables.
I'm eighty with chronic health issues. In the hospital recently I was faced with accepting that I have to give up striving NOW, not later, if I expect to stay alive. Parables about the grace freely available from Christ helped me actually get excited about dropping a ten year project.
I'm sad about dropping that project and others, but hopeful too. I found something else to do that doesn't involve striving. I plan to develop a mindfulness practice.
I'm eighty with chronic health issues. In the hospital recently I was faced with accepting that I have to give up striving NOW, not later, if I expect to stay alive. Parables about the grace freely available from Christ helped me actually get excited about dropping a ten year project.
I'm sad about dropping that project and others, but hopeful too. I found something else to do that doesn't involve striving. I plan to develop a mindfulness practice.
2 replies: Amy, David | Post Your Reply
On May 21, 2021 David Doane wrote :
I often see my thinking or images, be they images of spirituality or whatever, be they created by me or by the other, instead of seeing what is and letting life in. What comes to mind regarding "humble practice" that results in inspiration is efforts to see what is, such as to be in the present, put aside thinking, preconceived notions and created images, and let go of trying to control. When I do that even to a small extent, I find inspiration, surprises, aliveness, intimacy. Such practice is an important part of the foundation of my spirituality. What helps me stay rooted in such practice is the satisfaction I get from it. I like parables. For me, parables aren't distracting and I don't avoid them. Parables aren't about magical beliefs but are fantastic stories containing wisdom and lessons about rightliving. I have learned from parables and they have enhanced my practice. They tend to stick with me and I find myself reflecting on them.
3 replies: Shalom, David, Eleanor | Post Your Reply
On May 21, 2021 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
As I understand meditation is not avoiding distractions but mindfully facing them, processing them with compassion, courage, and commitment. Meditation is not chasing the shadows of pleasure and fantasies to use the word od Jason Garner "parables",but facing pain and suffering. It means not looking away or seeking distractions. It is by facing clouds of suffering compassionatelythatwe we can see the light clearly.
Life gives many opportunities to us for mindfully working on our sufferings. It's a question of turning our face towards sufferings or turning our face away from sufferings. It is easy to turn my face away form all kinds of pain and suffering rather than facing them fairly and squarely. I have used avoidance technique instead of facing them. I have learned from my personal experience that aversion and avoidance do not work for me. I have learned to hear the music though it could be painful. By following thispath I have been able to reduce the noise of music and ... [View Full Comment]