XPost: talk.religion.buddhism, alt.zen, alt.philosophy.zen   
   XPost: alt.buddha.short.fat.guy   
   From: epsteinrob@yahoo.com   
      
   Catawumpus wrote:   
      
   > Catawumpus :   
   >   
   >   
   >>>The middle way is located in between two   
   >>>practices, devotion to sensual pleasure and devotion to   
   >>>self-affliction -- Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta -- _not_ between   
   >>>attachment and aversion to life, the two attitudes you   
   >>>mistakenly thought it balanced.  Aversion to life is plain both   
   >>>in the description of worldly existence as dukkha and the   
   >>>teaching against "the craving that leads to rebirth."  The path   
   >>>aims away from the world.   
   >   
   >   
   > halfawake :   
   >   
   >   
   >>On the other hand, Buddha plainly says that attachment to cessation will   
   >>prevent liberation.   
   >   
   >   
   >      No, that isn't "on the other hand."  The Four Noble Truths   
   > teach against the craving for non-becoming as well as the   
   > craving for becoming because they are both part of "the craving   
   > that leads to rebirth."   
   >   
   >   
   >>If you eschew both self-indulgence and self-denial, what you have left   
   >>is a balanced, simple acceptance of the basics of life, while following   
   >   
   >   
   >      Dead wrong with regard to the Four Noble Truths, where the   
   > Buddha basically rejects worldly life by describing it as   
   > suffering and warning against the craving that leads to rebirth.   
   >   
   >      The Middle Path slips between extremes of sensual pleasure   
   > and self-affliction while heading _away_ from birth and   
   > rebirth, i.e., away from "the basics of life" you want Buddhism   
   > to cling to.   
   >   
   > -- Catawumpus   
      
   I'm talking about the way one lives while following the path, not your   
   idealized position.  One simplifies life, and lives in a basic,   
   wholesome way.  And that life is one that contains a lot of joy.  Love,   
   compassion, joy and equanimity are the positive qualities the Buddha   
   says to cultivate.   
      
   Robert   
      
   = = = = = = = =   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)