With palms together,
Good Morning Sangha,
This past Sunday I talked about the Four Noble Truths during my Dharma Talk at the Zen Center. Every once in awhile I think it is good to be reminded of these truths, especially the Fourth Truth, that of the Eightfold Noble Path.
The thing is, these truths speak to us about the virtue of moderation. The truth is rarely, if ever, in extremes, suggesting that there is great truth in the maxim, "too much of a good thing is a bad thing."
When we talk about "right" in the Eightfold Noble Path, we are actually talking about "correct." In this case, correct means balanced, moderate, middle: leaning to neither extreme. So, "Right Speech": is speech that is moderate, not extreme, not inflammatory. Also, it would be speech that is intended to heal people, to nurture them, rather than assault them or diminish them.
Moderation and balance are often difficult to attain and maintain. We live in a world with extremes challenging us on a daily, often moment-to-moment basis. Our practice is to establish and maintain a certain balance in the midst of it. Difficult indeed.
Yet, when the storm comes (and we know that it will) where is our heart/mind? It should be in calm abiding. When the storm comes, practice. Place your attention on the thing, take it in, let it be. It will resolve of its own accord. This is our faith. Feelings and thoughts and behaviors are all temporary. Everything comes anf goes. Even the worst of things. However, if we maintain our Middle Way in the midst of it all, we can be a model of peace and compassion to those being tossed about in the process.
Being a model in this sense is offering hope to others. Not bad for a ordinary person.
Be well.
1 comment:
the idea of being grounded in the middle way is a sound one. I remember my father, who was a WW2 generation republican, though of himself as a middle of the road type guy. I would guess that even Saddam Hussein thinks of himself as someone who acts between extremes of behavior. And I'll bet there are some people who might consider you as an example of an extremist. Practicing the middle way seems to be just another set of concepts which most people freely interpret for themselves. The problem is that almost everyone considers their actions and beliefs to be moderate. We are continually at each others throats over these beliefs.
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