Hi
My favourite IMS teacher sometimes refers to "the sacred" in his talks.
I have understood this to mean "life", or "reality" in some contexts,
(as this is my preferred interpretation), but I might be mistaken.
Does "the sacred" mean anything in Buddhism? Is life sacred?
Or is this a concept more likely to be met within the Mahayana tradition/s..
Sacred - "worthy of or regarded with reverence, awe, or respect" in a religious context.
Might one describe the Buddhadhamma as sacred?
Secular Buddhists would be very uncomfortable with the term, would they not? Perhaps context is all. But sometimes I am a little chary of it
Thank-you
Sacred
- tiltbillings
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Re: Sacred
Give an example of how the expression is used, if you could, please.imagemarie wrote:Hi
My favourite IMS teacher sometimes refers to "the sacred" in his talks.
I have understood this to mean "life", or "reality" in some contexts,
(as this is my preferred interpretation), but I might be mistaken.
Does "the sacred" mean anything in Buddhism? Is life sacred?
Or is this a concept more likely to be met within the Mahayana tradition/s..
Sacred - "worthy of or regarded with reverence, awe, or respect" in a religious context.
Might one describe the Buddhadhamma as sacred?
Secular Buddhists would be very uncomfortable with the term, would they not? Perhaps context is all. But sometimes I am a little chary of it
Thank-you
>> 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
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
- imagemarie
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Re: Sacred
Thank-you tilt. Here's a very recent example...
"This sense of myself, gathered as a formation - the belief that I am centred in the world and all the observation and data is coming in this way, is because I am formed to believe that. And when we start looking at what it is that is formed, we start having questions about that belief.
And as we become more transparent, we feel to a greater extent, some sense of the sacred. It becomes accessible.
When we are very well formed, very defined, very reactive, very certain of everything through our opinions and knowledge, there isn't much room for the sacred to enter, because there's only room for the forms of life to be there. So we kind of exclude it, or crowd it out, because of the certainty we have in form.
So when we develop less certainty within that form, we are seeing through some of the hardness of our definitions and we have access...the light that comes through is the sacred..the quality of sacredness"
Poetry..metaphor.. Perhaps ultimately it doesn't matter which words are used to name an un-nameable..I don't know
"This sense of myself, gathered as a formation - the belief that I am centred in the world and all the observation and data is coming in this way, is because I am formed to believe that. And when we start looking at what it is that is formed, we start having questions about that belief.
And as we become more transparent, we feel to a greater extent, some sense of the sacred. It becomes accessible.
When we are very well formed, very defined, very reactive, very certain of everything through our opinions and knowledge, there isn't much room for the sacred to enter, because there's only room for the forms of life to be there. So we kind of exclude it, or crowd it out, because of the certainty we have in form.
So when we develop less certainty within that form, we are seeing through some of the hardness of our definitions and we have access...the light that comes through is the sacred..the quality of sacredness"
Poetry..metaphor.. Perhaps ultimately it doesn't matter which words are used to name an un-nameable..I don't know
- tiltbillings
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Re: Sacred
And thank you. it makes sense to me, the use of the word "sacred" in this context. It is, I would say, referring to a shift in perception from that which is cluttered with contracted sense of "I want" or "I do not want" to the feeling tone that comes with the letting go of that via insight. It is like being in an overly warm, crowed, noisy, smoky, loud, brightly lit room and then stepping out into a cool, quiet night lit by the full moon in a great expansive sky.imagemarie wrote:Thank-you tilt. Here's a very recent example...
"This sense of myself, gathered as a formation - the belief that I am centred in the world and all the observation and data is coming in this way, is because I am formed to believe that. And when we start looking at what it is that is formed, we start having questions about that belief.
And as we become more transparent, we feel to a greater extent, some sense of the sacred. It becomes accessible.
When we are very well formed, very defined, very reactive, very certain of everything through our opinions and knowledge, there isn't much room for the sacred to enter, because there's only room for the forms of life to be there. So we kind of exclude it, or crowd it out, because of the certainty we have in form.
So when we develop less certainty within that form, we are seeing through some of the hardness of our definitions and we have access...the light that comes through is the sacred..the quality of sacredness"
Poetry..metaphor.. Perhaps ultimately it doesn't matter which words are used to name an un-nameable..I don't know
I like the word sacred in this context, but it is a "religious" word, which I guess be a little disconcerting for the more secular sorts, so it just becomes more stuff to watch.
>> 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
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
Re: Sacred
Some Mahayanists might use 'Buddha-nature' where this teacher uses 'the sacred'. 'Transcendent' or 'numinous' are other words you will come across in other traditions.imagemarie wrote:Thank-you tilt. Here's a very recent example...
"This sense of myself, gathered as a formation - the belief that I am centred in the world and all the observation and data is coming in this way, is because I am formed to believe that. And when we start looking at what it is that is formed, we start having questions about that belief.
And as we become more transparent, we feel to a greater extent, some sense of the sacred. It becomes accessible.
When we are very well formed, very defined, very reactive, very certain of everything through our opinions and knowledge, there isn't much room for the sacred to enter, because there's only room for the forms of life to be there. So we kind of exclude it, or crowd it out, because of the certainty we have in form.
So when we develop less certainty within that form, we are seeing through some of the hardness of our definitions and we have access...the light that comes through is the sacred..the quality of sacredness"
Poetry..metaphor.. Perhaps ultimately it doesn't matter which words are used to name an un-nameable..I don't know
All of them tend to unsettle rationalists.
Kim
- tiltbillings
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- Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:25 am
Re: Sacred
Poetry, metaphor.Kim O'Hara wrote:Some Mahayanists might use 'Buddha-nature' where this teacher uses 'the sacred'. 'Transcendent' or 'numinous' are other words you will come across in other traditions.imagemarie wrote:Thank-you tilt. Here's a very recent example...
"This sense of myself, gathered as a formation - the belief that I am centred in the world and all the observation and data is coming in this way, is because I am formed to believe that. And when we start looking at what it is that is formed, we start having questions about that belief.
And as we become more transparent, we feel to a greater extent, some sense of the sacred. It becomes accessible.
When we are very well formed, very defined, very reactive, very certain of everything through our opinions and knowledge, there isn't much room for the sacred to enter, because there's only room for the forms of life to be there. So we kind of exclude it, or crowd it out, because of the certainty we have in form.
So when we develop less certainty within that form, we are seeing through some of the hardness of our definitions and we have access...the light that comes through is the sacred..the quality of sacredness"
Poetry..metaphor.. Perhaps ultimately it doesn't matter which words are used to name an un-nameable..I don't know
All of them tend to unsettle rationalists.
Kim
>> 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
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
Re: Sacred
If we watch etymologicaly, we will see that all (or big part of them) words are actualy composition of many words, some kind of concetrated metaphores.
Sabbe dhamma anatta
We are not concurents...
I'am sorry for my english
We are not concurents...
I'am sorry for my english