The Middle Path
The Buddha talked about the Middle Path. I interpret that as not being lost in the austere silence of emptiness or the wild dance of form. It is to be both, at the same time. The Ardhanarishwara. The Enlightened Householder. The Lotus in the mud pool. Being in the world, but not of the world. If so, then i wonder why there are so many Buddhist monks and nuns. So many 'renunciates'. What are they renouncing?
The Buddha talked about the Middle Path. I interpret that as not being lost in the austere silence of emptiness or the wild dance of form. It is to be both, at the same time. The Ardhanarishwara. The Enlightened Householder. The Lotus in the mud pool. Being in the world, but not of the world. If so, then i wonder why there are so many Buddhist monks and nuns. So many 'renunciates'. What are they renouncing?
posted by naveen at
3:36 PM
4 Comments:
Do they call themselves renunciates or is that a name given to them by others? Perhaps all they are doing is to find their own path which they feel can be found only this way...
Anand
By
Anonymous, at Thursday, November 04, 2010
Nice point Anand. i think its a bit of both. Sometimes the world puts that tag on them, sometimes they 'renounce'.
By
naveen, at Thursday, November 04, 2010
I've read a lot of material where the Buddha makes a clear distinction between being a monk and a householder. The existence of the sangha, the community, prevented isolation, provided a monk with the whole world with all its challenges of relationship! But also allowed a monk the time and freedom for rigorous work, unrestrained by financial or family duty.
To give you a little more clarity about the 'middle path', here's something from an excellent book by Walpola Rahula:
"The Fourth Noble Truth is that of the Way leading to the cessation of dukkha... This is known as the 'Middle Path'.., because it avoids two extremes: one extreme being the search of happiness through the pleasures of the senses, which is 'low, common, unprofitable and the way of the ordinary people'; the other being the search for happiness through self-mortification in different forms of ascetism, which is 'painful, unworthy and unprofitable'.."
:) Shalini
By
Shalini, at Saturday, November 06, 2010
Thanks Shalini :)
By
naveen, at Sunday, November 07, 2010
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