MN 95 Canki SuttaMalcolm wrote: Basically, the fact that there is a story of awakening at all is the essence of Dharma. ...
... the one thing we share is that we all subscribe to narrative about liberation otherwise we would not be here discussing these issues. ...
... Buddhists, like all other religionists, like to think that they are the only ones who have a true story. Among Buddhists, all assert their preferred story of liberation as the best, or most practical, or the only possible, or the most historically accurate, and so on.
We Dharma practitioners demonstrate our commitment to our preferred stories by the choices we make, and the practices we do. But in the end we are merely making a commitment to a narrative of liberation we have decided to accept.
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Is this "commitment to a narrative of liberation we have decided to accept" a necessary condition for success in the path, or is it a hindrance?Canki Sutta wrote:"But to what extent, Master Gotama, is there the safeguarding of the truth? To what extent does one safeguard the truth? We ask Master Gotama about the safeguarding of the truth."
"If a person has conviction, his statement, 'This is my conviction,' safeguards the truth. But he doesn't yet come to the definite conclusion that 'Only this is true; anything else is worthless.' To this extent, Bharadvaja, there is the safeguarding of the truth. To this extent one safeguards the truth. I describe this as the safeguarding of the truth. But it is not yet an awakening to the truth.
Mike