I meant using the analogy of fire to represent that which we might find difficult to tolerate.Jechbi wrote:Hi Gabe,That wasn't my analogy. Nobody is talking about mindless indifference. That was something you added with your interpretation of Retro's post, I believe.gabrielbranbury wrote:But once we have an adequate fire break around our property to use your analogy ...
Metta
Jechbi wrote:If you want to change the fire, you change the fuel. You don't reach in and try to change the flames. I think Retro is talking about the process of not adding more fuel.
Indeed life does seem very complicated at times. All I am saying is that we not shrink from the opportunity to point out how a teaching is not helpful and perhaps just wrong when that is how we perceive it. There are criteria we can use to look into our perception like in the Kalama Sutta.Jechbi wrote:So when some unacceptable circumstance presents itself -- let's say you see that your son is standing in the path of an oncoming car -- of course you will react. You'll shout: "Get out of the way!" Or you'll run out and push him out of the way, if necessary. The good practice of tolerance is how we engage with that type of situation. Do we react with anger, yelling at the child for not being more careful, and maybe even giving the child a spanking or beating? Do we run after the car, yelling at the driver to slow down? How do we engage with that which we find unacceptable? This is samsara. Life is complicated. Tolerance is good practice.
I dont think that it is a question of acceptable or unacceptable if your son is about to be hit by a car. The very fact that you act to save your son means you have accepted that he will be hit by it if you do not act. I don't see where tolerance needs to play a role in this at all. If there is anger at the child or at the driver I would hope that I dont act out of that and just act out of what is appropriate to the situation. It might be appropriate to shout at the driver if I think it will be understood in a way which gets the driver to slow down in the future. It is possible to do such a thing without it being an expression of anger.
Kindly
Gabe