Celtic Enlightenment

[tog...@gmail.com]

I had a copy of ODonohue's Anam Cara:A Book Of Celtic Wisdom send to
my neighborhood library via their web page and just picked it up. It
is pretty impressive.
I have always had an aversion to dogma and have believed that the
Buddha's prajna was universal, that it could be discovered
independently in any time and in any place.
It is nice to find it amongst the Celts. I think we lost aspects of
this perennial wisdom from the time we inherited the culture of the
Roman Empire. These ways of knowing are found in all indigenous
culture. People enlightened by place/nature.. Rome could not
extinguish all of the indigenous knowledge in Ireland because of the
protection of the ocean. So, Celts could pick and choose aspects of
Christianity, as they please.
Will right more later, after Ido more than just crack the book. I am
in Burger King's parking lot using their Wi-Fi. I just finished a
sundae and my Akita Kintaro wolfed down some Chicken Nuggets. We are
listening to Thom Hartmann on Air America Minnesota.
Lee in Minnneapolis, Keith Ellison's 5th Ward.
On 3/7/08, Lee <tog...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 5:30 PM, Pat Stacy <pst...@sti.net> wrote:
>
> > My opinion, worth nothing, is that it isn't until we are willing to
> abandon
> > all concepts, inner and outer, that the absolute beauty and clarity of
> > emptiness can be appreciated.
> >
> > Pat
> Hi Pat,
>
> I came to the practice of craft because I recognized it
> was a way to approach absolute reality, beyond the limitations of
> language and concepts.
>
> I've discussed Buddhism and Beautyt with zen folks
> extensively. Western Zen folks seem to have trouble reconciling
> beauty and emptiness. It may be the differeing way the West and the
> East view Beauty. In Japan, Beauty is dependent upon the
> ephemeral/emptiness. It is at the core of all the Zen inspired arts
> in Japan. I also think we are influenced by our Puritanical roots.
>
> The philosopher that started the craft tradition I am an
> initiate of, was a student of D.T. Suzuki. His name was Soetsu
> Yanagi. I put up a scan of his essay "The Dharma Gate Of Beauty"
> here:
>
> http://ikiru.blogspot.com/
>
> The issue is, that arriving at a concept of emptiness
> before we get over our sense of self, is like having a wound healing
> over a festering bullet. Beauty can help us get over our egos and
> our separateness , and that helps us come to grips with complete and
> fullfilled shunyata.
>
> So, the Beauty he speaks of, is not a concept of beauty. But
> a direct experience of Beauty, beyond emptiness and non-emptiness.
>
> His mentioning of keeping something beautiful in your mind
> reminds me when Luding Khen Rinpoche gave me a figurine of Green Tara
> and gave my wife Jean a figurine of Amitayus. He explained, that the
> beauty of Green Tara would help focus my mind on practice as would the
> handsomeness of Amitayus for Jean. Tantra is well know for its
> turning our desires back on themselves in order to advance our
> practice.
>
>
> --
> Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
> http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
>
> "I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of
> its own unfolding." -- John O'Donohue
>
--
Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
"I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of
its own unfolding." -- John O'Donohue