Silence does not denote profundity if you are ignorant and untrained. Like on holding scales, a sage weighs things up, wholesome and unwholesome, and comes to know both the inner and outer worlds. Therefore the sage is called wise.
Dhammapada v. 269-269.
Ajahn Munindo says ...
" The Buddha spoke of the contentment and benefit that can come from living in quiet and beautiful places. Limiting sesne stimuli can assit us on our path to freedom from ignorance. However he didn't mean for us to then take a position against the sensory world. Ajahn Chah often said "If you can't practise in the city, you can't practise in the forest" And he'd also say "If you can't practise when you are sick, you can't practise when you are healthy". In other words, everything is practice; including the feeling that we can't practise with 'this'. It is wisdom that recognises this truth.
When I read the Dhammpada verse, I was thinking that practice often means bouncing around extremes before finding balance. And by so doing coming to know and understand better. I think that the more a person practises the better they would come to know themselves and how they can best function in the world with love, peace and grace whilst also feeling that contentment within as well. There is never absolute though, as it is a matter of ongoing practise as every person encountered and every situation met will surely bring new lessons to practise.
Reading Ajahn Muninido, I get a different understanding. I realise that regardless of conditions including my mood, practice is ongoing. There is no ideal condition to wait for just get on with the practising everyday, every situation. Consciousness takes practise and every moment is an opportunity to practise. With awareness growing, comes the opportunity to practise the lessons in the moment.
Silent meditation in beautiful places like the monastery at Chithurst invokes a calm. I would like to practise more regular attendance. But the practise of sitting in silent meditation can be undertaken anywhere. I would like to continue to practise this too.
Bliss
XX
Dhammapada v. 269-269.
Ajahn Munindo says ...
" The Buddha spoke of the contentment and benefit that can come from living in quiet and beautiful places. Limiting sesne stimuli can assit us on our path to freedom from ignorance. However he didn't mean for us to then take a position against the sensory world. Ajahn Chah often said "If you can't practise in the city, you can't practise in the forest" And he'd also say "If you can't practise when you are sick, you can't practise when you are healthy". In other words, everything is practice; including the feeling that we can't practise with 'this'. It is wisdom that recognises this truth.
When I read the Dhammpada verse, I was thinking that practice often means bouncing around extremes before finding balance. And by so doing coming to know and understand better. I think that the more a person practises the better they would come to know themselves and how they can best function in the world with love, peace and grace whilst also feeling that contentment within as well. There is never absolute though, as it is a matter of ongoing practise as every person encountered and every situation met will surely bring new lessons to practise.
Reading Ajahn Muninido, I get a different understanding. I realise that regardless of conditions including my mood, practice is ongoing. There is no ideal condition to wait for just get on with the practising everyday, every situation. Consciousness takes practise and every moment is an opportunity to practise. With awareness growing, comes the opportunity to practise the lessons in the moment.
Silent meditation in beautiful places like the monastery at Chithurst invokes a calm. I would like to practise more regular attendance. But the practise of sitting in silent meditation can be undertaken anywhere. I would like to continue to practise this too.
Bliss
XX
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