SDC, thank you for the reply and thank you for bringing this poem to my attention. It poignantly shows the struggle toward freedom, i.e., toward "the destruction of that mechanism." The valuing of this freedom, and more precisely I think, the desire for it (presumably including the desire for its not-worldly pleasure) seems to be a skillful use of that mechanism -- but that mechanism's ever-attendant dukkha (in this case, noble distress) cannot be overcome within it. (That is my understanding anyway.) In this poem, Talaputa has not yet tamed his mind, but it shows his faith, noble desire, and determination to tame his mind and to be free of "the mechanism" while using the mechanism to do so. What other mechanism is there -- until we are free (of any "mechanism" perhaps).SDC wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 2:43 pm Sure. A grappling of sorts between valuing desire and valuing freedom. In both cases the mind wants something, but the former is a preservation of a mechanism for pleasure while the latter is the destruction of that mechanism...The trust and faith needed to be placed in possibly for freedom no matter what the mind was doing and that is how he was able to tame it.
Thank you for this opportunity to study together -- and for your work.
