Reading dhamma for fun, not wisdom... is okay?

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James the Giant
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Reading dhamma for fun, not wisdom... is okay?

Post by James the Giant »

I am really enjoying reading Buddhist Legends, by Eugene Watson Burlingame. It's the origin stories of the verses of the Dhammapada.
But I find I am reading it more for entertainment than for wholesome reasons. The stories are really interesting, clever, and yes I must admit, wise. There's suspense, surprise, battles, fights, love, tragedy, and a very colourful metaphysics.
Is this okay? I felt a bit guilty when I realised I was treating it as entertainment rather than a profound spiritual teaching.
Maybe that's just my judaeo-christian upbringing... I think I have some silly idea that if it's good for me, I should not be enjoying it. Or that if I am enjoying it, I should be treating a sacred text more seriously and soberly.
But I should snap out of it and just enjoy the stories, right?

http://readingfaithfully.org/book-sour ... urn false;
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
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DAWN
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Re: Reading dhamma for fun, not wisdom... is okay?

Post by DAWN »

Is the same for me :popcorn:
Sabbe dhamma anatta
We are not concurents...
I'am sorry for my english
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tiltbillings
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Re: Reading dhamma for fun, not wisdom... is okay?

Post by tiltbillings »

James the Giant wrote: I think I have some silly idea that if it's good for me, I should not be enjoying it. Or that if I am enjoying it, I should be treating a sacred text more seriously and soberly.
But I should snap out of it and just enjoy the stories, right?
It is a sad thing to make one's practice grim/ Enjoy them.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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imagemarie
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Re: Reading dhamma for fun, not wisdom... is okay?

Post by imagemarie »

:smile: :goodpost:

:anjali:
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marc108
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Re: Reading dhamma for fun, not wisdom... is okay?

Post by marc108 »

what tilt said..

maintaining consistent long term practice is ALL about enjoying the practice! the more you learn to LOVE the Dhamma the better of you will be. so yes, you're right... thinking you should not be enjoying it because its good is very silly. I personally think that incorporating Dhammic themes into recreational activities, reading, art, music, etc is extremely wise as it's likely you'll absorb some wisdom from the fun stuff as well.
"It's easy for us to connect with what's wrong with us... and not so easy to feel into, or to allow us, to connect with what's right and what's good in us."
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Ben
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Re: Reading dhamma for fun, not wisdom... is okay?

Post by Ben »

JAMES...

relax!
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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pegembara
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Re: Reading dhamma for fun, not wisdom... is okay?

Post by pegembara »

Enjoy the menu but just don't forget to taste the food too.

:smile:
And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, & from idle chatter: This is called right speech.
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James the Giant
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Re: Reading dhamma for fun, not wisdom... is okay?

Post by James the Giant »

That's pretty unanimous then. Ta!
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
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